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School board talks new curriculum options

T-R FILE PHOTO — Young Marshalltown students may soon have new literacy materials in the classroom if the school board approves a new curriculum to begin next year.

The Marshalltown School Board is having critical discussions about new curriculum options.

One of those options got the board’s final approval Monday after discussion was held in April. That was for various math curricula for students in seventh to 12th grades.

“We had increased enough students wanting to take a fourth year of math or a different type of math that we needed to increase the (cost) amount,” said district Director of Instruction Lisa Stevenson.

That means the cost of the new materials will go up from from the original estimate of $157,000 to $172,000 to accommodate the increased number of interested students. The materials range from middle school-level classes through GoMath to high school level courses like algebra, geometry, pre-calculus and calculus.

Another large chunk of the district’s curriculum was discussed Monday evening, though no final action was taken. A special committee of district administrators and teachers came together to recommend Amplify literacy materials for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

The proposal includes the purchase of materials for K-5 students in the amount of about $288,000 and for sixth graders in the amount of $35,700 for six years of using the curriculum. That is a total of about $324,000.

“One of the things that drew us to this was that their mission is to provide educational excellence and equality for all children,” said district preschool to sixth grade curriculum leader Erica Finders of Amplify’s kindergarten-to-fifth grade materials. “They focus on topics that inspire curiosity. All of those topics have to do with science and social studies, history, there are a lot of literature topics, cultural things and also a focus on the arts.”

She said the sixth grade materials are meant to prepare students for the rigorous reading comprehension and writing they will need for life after high school.

The Amplify materials discussed Monday would include all K-6 students in the district aside from Woodbury Elementary students, who have specialized dual-language curriculum needs.

Stevenson said English-language arts curriculum purchases tend to be the most expensive for districts.

“It’s heavy and dense in terms of the books and readers and materials that we need,” she said.

If approved, Amplify would replace the current literacy curriculum called Treasures, which has been in place for about eight years. Stevenson said Treasures has not been adequate to keep Marshalltown students up to par when it comes to proficiency in literacy.

School board member Mike Miller said he had some hesitation about making such a big purchase, with the entire curriculum cost needing to be paid up-front.

“Now, we’re buying new curriculum and making a six-year commitment … what happens if we’re two or three years in and we say ‘This is no good either?'” he said.

Stevenson said the district will survey teachers on how the students are doing with the new curriculum, as well as analyze standardized test results to see if the curriculum is working.

She said the committee recommending the curriculum did a large amount of research prior to making Monday’s recommendation. That included deeply reviewing 10 different programs and bringing in representatives of four of the programs for a closer look.

“You can buy the best or the worst of anything, but it’s up to us to give the teachers the resources and training they need to be successful with it and the time to figure it out,” Stevenson said. “While this one huge decision is getting made, there are so many other decisions that will make or break this decision.”

Training for teachers will be key to the success of the new curriculum, she said.

The next Marshalltown School Board meeting is set for 5 p.m. May 20 at the Central Administration Office, 1002 S. Third Ave.

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Contact Adam Sodders at

641-753-6611 or

asodders@timesrepublican.com

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