By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The science of reading has become a big part of the elementary education process. Monday night, the USD 428 Board of Education heard from several teachers and administrators in a first reading of suggested changes to the Great Bend district's K-6 English Language Arts curriculum. If approved, the district will spend $387,427 for the new curriculum until the next update in seven years. Amber Shattuck, first-grade teacher at Eisenhower Elementary and ELA curriculum committee member, explained why the group chose HMH Into Reading over Savvas My View.
"A lot of us teachers have been dedicated to learning more about the science of reading, how our kids best learn to read, and how we can best support them as they learn to read," she said. "We've been going through the LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training and trying to get as many teachers to join us in the LETRS training because we've been able to really see the benefits of that. This curriculum is really nice because it just aligns really well with that.
"It already incorporates a lot of those strategies and things we've been learning and practicing in our LETRS training. It's all built into the curriculum, which has been really nice because the curriculum now is not aligned to the science of reading so it's more work on us as teachers because we have to try to add all that in."
Director of Teaching JoAnn Blevins explained that curriculum review is a three-year process, with a review of standards and available resources completed in year one, and a pilot program with the new curriculum done in year two. Year three is the implementation of the new curriculum. Tandi Mai, instructional coach at Eisenhower and newly selected principal for the Little Panthers Preschool, said this year's pilot program went well.
"With your support with the LETRS training we've been able to implement in this district, this was probably one of the most well-informed pilot decisions because every feedback piece that came back through off both pilot resources was based off the science of reading," she said. "These teachers pulled that knowledge right in there, so I really feel like we had some great discussions. That came from your support with the LETRS initiatives and getting our teachers involved in that."
Some benefits of the new curriculum include highly-credential authors with education experience, interactive videos, support for diverse learners, and multicultural stories. Modules are broken down into three and four-week sections, with each module carrying a central theme and incorporating social and emotional learning. One big benefit is a consumable workbook for each student that allows the students to highlight or make notes in the text.
The original bid from HMH came in at $1.1 million. Board Member Chad Burroughs relayed concerns from one teacher who thought the committee lacked transparency and, based on the change in price, made cuts to the curriculum from what was originally presented to teachers. Assistant Superintendent John Popp said that was not the case.
"It's all about getting every teacher exactly what they need to correctly deliver the program as it's designed," he said. "There's nothing that was cut out. Most of the cost that was cut out was student numbers and intervention materials. That was the large majority of what was cut out."
Blevins reiterated that HMH's original proposal included 1,400 licenses for HMH's supplemental Waggle program. That figure was reduced to 400 based on expected need. The district also opted out of a classroom library and assessment tool that were deemed redundant to what the district currently provides.
The $387,000 price tag includes materials for 200 students at each grade level K-6 for the next seven years. As it was a first read Monday night, the board took no action on approving the curriculum.