Teachers devote summer time to curriculum
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Besides time by the pool or in the park, summer brings with it a week of intensive curriculum work for many Eudora Schools teachers. More than 20 teachers came together in June for a week to write and validate portions of the curriculum that is taught in Eudora Schools. This work fits into the Curriculum Leadership Institute program, a guided method of writing and testing what is taught in school districts.
Across the district, teachers serve in subject area committees, or SACs, to ensure that the district curriculum is aligned, grade by grade, to state standards and other indicators.
"Because the SAC work is so thorough, the SAC week is very intensive," said Don Grosdidier, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction and incoming superintendent. "The teachers work very hard to make sure that what is being taught fits together from one year to the next and that it supports the standards of what the state of Kansas expects all students to know."
A new content area has been added to the CLI process each year, beginning with math, followed by English and science. Social studies, technology/computer applications and health were added last year, and P.E. and foreign language will be added in the next year. SAC meetings take place throughout the year, and teachers work in daily collaboration to address ongoing questions of curriculum and testing. But the week-long work session brings with it the opportunity for the bulk of the curriculum and assessment writing to be discussed and resolved.
While writing and measuring a curriculum is no small task, teachers recognize the benefits of time in the summer to work through the lion's share of the process.
"It's a long week, and it's hard work," said first-grade teacher Becky Topil, who serves on the social studies SAC. "But it's the kind of work that would be very difficult, if not impossible, to really get done during the school year."
The SACs include teachers representing grades K-12 who target a specific content area. This group is charged with writing the curriculum for their subject, overseeing its implementation, selecting supporting resources and preparing or validating assessments aligned with specific standards. The CLI process includes a process for teachers to implement a new curriculum, supported by training in organization, pacing and results-based lesson planning to assure that instruction is aligned with the curriculum.
