School System's Plans to Expand Science and Math Curriculums May Be In the Distant Future

In the preliminary results of a recent town-wide survey, the town's public schools got a big thumbs-up from residents.

In terms of keeping the schools at the top of the rankings in the 21st Century, 70 percent of pegged the expansion of math and science as most important. But if you want to find those subjects in the district's objectives for next year, you'll have to read between the lines.

Deputy Superintendent Mary Kolek says the district's goal to "increase student achievement" applies to all subjects, including math and science.

"We do it as a matter of course," Kolek said.

But the district's goals that were in the works long before the survey results were released, and which were approved by the Board of Education last week, don't spell out any specific objectives for instruction in those two subjects.

Instead, the objectives are focused primarily on ongoing initiatives started a few years back, including the continuing roll-out of foreign language in the elementary schools (FLES), expanding the use of visual and performing arts (VPA) portfolios, and refining the curriculum and learning environments to make sure students are proficient in information and communication technology.

In the survey, only 21 percent of respondents identified expanding languages as the top priority for the future, 18 percent said online course offerings were most important, and 16 percent wanted more performing arts.

Board of Education Chairman Nick Williams says he suspects those numbers are simply reflecting the inroads the school system has already made in those areas, rather than demonstrating that the board's priorities for the district are somehow out of sync with the community's.

"I don't think people want to cut VPA or FLES. People would have identified that as an area to address ... if you'd done the survey 5 years ago," Williams said.

"I have no doubt we will be looking at math and science," he continued, speculating that a specific objective related to those subjects could easily wind up on the district's agenda for 2011-2012. "The administration has to figure out what exactly is the goal ... in math and science ...  and that will take some time."

Kolek says that groundwork will begin this fall with a "self-study" of student performance, to be followed up with an assessment during the 2011-2012 school year by fellow educators from the Tri-State Consortium, a collective of high-performing districts in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

Research, says the deputy superintendent, is always the first step with a new curriculum initiative to see what skills are in demand by colleges, business, and society in general. Then a committee will determine the direction the district wants to take, followed by a team of teachers who will create the new lessons, resulting in professional development to introduce the material before it hits the classroom.

"It usually takes us 2, 3, 4 years to do a complete roll out," Kolek says. "As we implement, we watch what the results are."

Determining whether to go down the long and costly road to launch a new initiative in math or science, Williams says, may be on the Board of Education's plate in the next academic year.