The Examiner U-46 News Feed

Curriculum items given support from U-46 board

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 voted 6-0, board member Samreen Khan was absent, to approve a pair of curriculum items at the special board meeting on Monday, July 29.
  The items, both English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum for high school and middle school, were approved despite opposition, specifically to the high school curriculum, by one of the teachers who was on the curriculum committee.
  Kristen Weisenberger, a teacher at Streamwood High School, spoke during public comments and shared concerns such as not enough time for professional development.
  “The team created a proposal for a new curriculum to be implemented for the 24-25 school year,” Weisenberger said. “Unfortunately, this proposal was never given an opportunity to be reviewed by instructional council because it was rejected by administrative leaders. When members of the team asked for a rationale, we were given a vague response that the decision was made that a written curriculum should be adopted based on our current student data available, time and urgency. Unfortunately, we were not provided with an opportunity to appeal the decision and were informed that our only option was to select a pre-written curriculum.”
  The high school proposal has an initial estimated cost of $2.1 million and annual costs of $367,500. It includes implementation of Pre-AP ELA 1 and 2 for underclassmen honors courses, English 10 and AP Seminar for sophomores and juniors and it replaces senior English with College Prep English/Transitional.
  The middle school proposal has an initial estimated cost of $626,000 and annual costs of $156,750.
  “Each grade level will be organized into three modules, with three units per module,” the proposal states. “Each unit has two summative assessments, giving students multiple opportunities to demonstrate reading, writing, and language skills. This new curriculum will support student success on the IAR (Illinois Assessment of Readiness).”
  The proposal adds: “In addition, the team is recommending merging the Gifted ELA course with the Challenge ELA course and renaming it Honors. This name change aligns with all other content areas and mirrors the trajectory of our Spanish Language Arts counterpart. This will facilitate scheduling and staffing for the courses.”
  Additionally, the board voted 6-0 to approve a list of authorized depositories which remains unchanged from previous years: PMA Securities, Illinois School District Liquid Asset Fund, JP Morgan/Chase, Fifth Third Bancorp and Illinois Trust.