Teacher support focus of Warden discussion

WARDEN — Teacher training, the roles of teachers, teacher support and administrators were topics of discussion during a presentation on curriculum at the regular Warden School Board meeting June 14.

The subject of curriculum came up at the May 24 meeting, and Jill Massa, the district’s director of teaching and learning, was at the June 14 to explain the process of curriculum adoption. She focused on the elementary school.

Teachers at the kindergarten through second grade level work together to pick curriculum materials for their grades, Massa said. So do teachers in the third through fifth grades.

The district is working on adopting materials for the elementary grades, she said. “But, what we began finding – and what we had known for a long time – is that instructional methodology is really the key to what you need to do. Curriculum is just a resource. It is the thing that you use to do what you know best.”

District officials hired experts from outside to evaluate the district’s curriculum and teaching methods. In answer to a question, Massa said teachers participated in the curriculum selection process throughout. “It was a group decision,” and in fact, the K-2 teachers asked for additional materials late in the selection process.

The materials selected represented a change from previous practice, Massa said, and that made some teachers uneasy. “I really feel like, if you have collaboration and you have people that are on board and they work together, it’s really not the materials. It’s really not.”

Teachers were asked to commit to the curriculum chosen, and they did, Massa said. “That was their plan.” But when the time came to use it, some weren’t as committed. “We have to not sign things and say, ‘this is what we want,’ and then talk to a parent or talk to somebody else and say, ‘well, I never wanted that, and they just bought it for me. We need the full truth out there.’ And when we do ask and we do get an answer, we need to be open to that.”

One of the first-grade teachers said the first-grade team did commit to a plan. “But then, there were some grown-up issues that got in there – not kid issues. It was not kid issues.” The effort to stick to the plan was one of the casualties, she said. Inconsistency has been a persistent problem, she said.

A district patron asked whose responsibility it was to ensure teachers kept the commitment. Massa said it was up to teachers and administration alike, to keep evaluating and working on consistency. “And we did do some of that. But with some teams it’s working very well, and with some it’s not. We’re still working on it.”

A fifth-grade teacher said the fifth-grade teaching team did do a lot of work learning the curriculum they chose, but now two of the other fifth-grade teachers are leaving. The continuing need to train new teachers was very frustrating, she said.

Massa said in the case of turnover, the district needs to provide extra support to new and experienced teachers alike.

Massa said there’s good news in Warden. “Over time, Warden students are making progress. And they’re making more progress than they’re expected to make.”