The Portage Township School Board is expected to vote to adopt elementary and middle school math and high school social studies programs and resources when the group meets Thursday.
The board will have to decide how much they’ll pay for the programs and how long they will last, but their decisions will follow a months-long search led by administrators but driven by teachers.
“It was an excellent experience, because I enjoyed working with the other colleagues and doing all the research and going to the math caravans,” said 41-year first-grade teacher Diane Zuick, of Myers Elementary, after a meeting when the board considered the adoptions.
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“We just believe we’re doing what we believe in, and we wanted to kind of be present and see and hopefully be part of the decision making,” added Carrie Biggs, a fourth-grade teacher at Aylesworth Elementary.
The board also will have to deal with some wild cards, namely the chances the Indiana Board of Education and the State Department of Education will change state standards.
Historically, the state DOE set educational standards and provided a list of vendors and resources school districts could adopt for six-year cycles, said Assistant Superintendent Debra Dudek.
Two years ago, the state dropped that process, giving school districts control over the programs they use to reach state standards.
Beginning last November, one representative from each grade level at each elementary and middle school formed a math committee to consider educational resources, digital and more traditional text books and materials, their students will use over the next three or six years.
Another committee made of teachers and administrators began studying the next social studies adoption for the two middle schools and Portage High School. The committee changed depending on which subject they were studying, because social studies is a broad, umbrella term, Dudek said.
“When we narrowed it down, and it took a lot of work, and we got our colleagues at the schools involved and told them our findings, we talked about it,” she said. “We stayed after school, asked questions. It was very collaborative.”
Through Dudek, the committees pitched their findings to the board for discussion at a packed school board meeting at Ethel Jones Elementary last week.
The committees studied what kinds of how much technology will be used for each subject and grade level, with the groups agreeing a “blended” approach, using high-tech and traditional books and hard copies, will be the best approaches, depending on the grade levels and availability of tablet computers and other technologies.
Much of the discussion at the recent board meeting focused on which length of time for the math adoption the board will choose, either the three-year or the six-year cycle. Several board members leaned toward the shorter time cycle, claiming it’s unclear if and when the state may change state standards and what effect such a change may have on the programs the local board chooses.
The state DOE “is kind of screwed up right now, so that makes it a tough decision,” said Board President Andy Maletta.
“I’m not in favor of switching up the curriculum in three years,” said board member Deb Ekhahl, a Hammond public schools teacher. “Let’s support our teachers.”
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.