Why do schools make it so. very. difficult. to figure out what curricula they use??

[eloquacious]

I'm scoping out the various local public schools' web sites as a back-up plan in case we don't get in to any of the charters, and I can't for the life of me figure out what they even teach. I tried calling the district and one of the schools, and come ON. No one seems to have any answers. Sigh.

[PhotoGal]

It is strange, isn't it? I've done some digging before as well. I guess most parents aren't really that interested (or wouldn't know what the curriculum was like anyway). Come to think of it, when my kids were in school I didn't ask about the curriculum ahead of time. Seems kind of crazy now! But that was for kindergarten, so maybe I wasn't too worried at that point.

[xixstar]

Does the school system have a curriculum review committee? We have a Curriculum Council (http://www.carrollk12.org/instruction/instruction/currcoun/default.asp) that would probably have a better idea. But I think that educators think more in objectives and such and not so much the name of the book or company or curriculum they're using because the idea of different curriculum doesn't really come up a whole lot since they're just teaching what they're given to teach from. I find the idea of of 'what curriculum" to be far more a homeschooling concept.

 

Our schools have website with all the content areas laid out (what is being taught but not how it's being taught) and what not, but I realize that not all schools or states will have up-to-date websites with that information. Actually, looking further into our county website, it only looks like they give that information as a lot of it is missing.

[Ellie]

You are probably asking the wrong question. What you want to know is which textbooks or other instructional materials are used, not what "curriculum" is used. They don't use "curriculum." The state department of education (and/or the state legislature) decides what the curriculum will be--that is, the content of courses which must be taught in all of the schools, after which textbook publishers are approved for classroom use.

 

For example, here is the approved "curriculum" for the state of Texas for language arts. Here's the list of approved textbooks (as of 2010).

 

Most schools/districts can choose from any of the approved textbooks. You would have to call your local school and ask the names of the textbook publishers specifcally used there. You would NOT ask what curriculum they use.

 

ETA: Just for fun, I looked up a couple of private schools in the Austin area. Here's what one of them listed as its "curriculum." A couple of others that I found did similarly.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Ellie

[eloquacious]

The only information that I have comes from the district web site, which lists the curricular standards for each grade and subject. I'm sorry, but even as a former teacher, that tells me everything and nothing. I'm so used to seeing people's signatures here, telling precisely what they're teaching, and being able to see sample lessons online!! ;)

 

I know that our local district uses Spalding phonics.... but I only know that because it's mentioned in the Introduction to the Spalding manual as being a decades-long success story, not because it's on their web site anywhere!

 

So infuriating.

[EKS]

You are probably asking the wrong question. What you want to know is which textbooks or other instructional materials are used, not what "curriculum" is used. They don't use "curriculum." The state department of education (and/or the state legislature) decides what the curriculum will be--that is, the content of courses which must be taught in all of the schools, after which textbook publishers are approved for classroom use.

 

For example, here is the approved "curriculum" for the state of Texas for language arts. Here's the list of approved textbooks (as of 2010).

 

Most schools/districts can choose from any of the approved textbooks. You would have to call your local school and ask the names of the textbook publishers specifcally used there. You would NOT ask what curriculum they use.

 

This.

[eloquacious]

I see... so we're having a terminology disconnect. That makes sense! Nevertheless, the charters and private schools place the information visibly on their web sites. "We teach Saxon!" "We use Singapore!" "We follow the Core Knowledge sequence!" You know, names of programs that I can recognize. Sigh.

Edited August 29, 2012 by eloquacious

[wapiti]

FWIW, on multiple occasions, I have emailed teachers from out of the blue, saying we were considering their school and asking what math texts they use. Almost all of the time, I end up getting the info I'm looking for, sometimes right away, sometimes weeks later.

 

I look closely at the website to guess what teacher might know, either the teacher in the grade level I'm interested in, or, in the case of middle schools, the math teachers. Once I couldn't find a teacher's name and emailed the receptionist or info person on the school's website - I still got what I wanted. I just write as politely as I can, as in, I don't mean to bother you, etc.

[mchel210]

here in Fl. I can access all the school books and see the names of the books. For example...we use an online access page that has all our books and online copies...so if we have a friend in public school...you could log in with them and see all the grade level books from K-12. That is in fl. So they use typical "school" books...Like we use Glencoe reading and english, houghton mifflin harcourt english and math, pentince hall or glencoe in upper grades...ours allows us to see the books and pages...I imagine you would have to go through the publishers links to see the pages or examples...but the charter and private schools are very different in what they use.

 

I would imagine these "brands" of books are very popular in the Public Schools across the nation...glencoe, harcourt, pentince..etc.

 

Good luck.

[Ellie]

I see... so we're having a terminology disconnect.

Exactly. It is why I encourage people to know and use the correct terminology so that when they have discussions with professional educators and others (such as CPS workers) there can be clearer comunication.

 

 

Nevertheless, the charters and private schools place the information visibly on their web sites. "We teach Saxon!" "We use Singapore!" "We follow the Core Knowledge sequence!" You know, names of programs that I can recognize. Sigh.

IKWYM, although charter schools are public schools. :)

[Crimson Wife]

Under NCLB, the school is supposed to list the textbooks used as part of its report card. Here in CA, it's called SARC (school accountability report card) and the textbooks are listed under section 7, "Curriculum and Instructional Methods". Here is an example from our zoned elementary school:

 

Reading/Language Arts: Houghton Mifflin Reading-California Edition

Mathematics: Houghton Mifflin Mathematics

Science: McGraw Hill Science-California Edition

Social Studies: Harcourt Brace California Reflections.

 

High school is more difficult to tell because there are multiple textbooks listed for each subject & grade (presumably because of tracking). But at least it gives me something to go on.

[eloquacious]

Crimson Wife,

 

Thank you for that - it's a start. I found our zoned school's SARC but it doesn't list them either. Sigh. Maybe they're saving money on books and just winging it? ;)

[kubiac]

Under NCLB, the school is supposed to list the textbooks used as part of its report card. Here in CA, it's called SARC (school accountability report card) and the textbooks are listed under section 7, "Curriculum and Instructional Methods". Here is an example from our zoned elementary school:

 

Reading/Language Arts: Houghton Mifflin Reading-California Edition

Mathematics: Houghton Mifflin Mathematics

Science: McGraw Hill Science-California Edition

Social Studies: Harcourt Brace California Reflections.

 

High school is more difficult to tell because there are multiple textbooks listed for each subject & grade (presumably because of tracking). But at least it gives me something to go on.

 

SO HELPFUL! Thank you for this tip!

[eloquacious]

So by snooping around some teacher's web sites on OTHER local public schools in the same district, I've discovered multiple links to McGraw-Hill Treasures for a Reading curriculum. I'm going to take a leap and assume that our school, literally four streets over and part of the same district, uses the same curriculum. That takes care of ONE of my questions. Sadly, no math links, or handwriting, or spelling (that's presumably included), science, etc.

This whole process disgusts me. I literally have to be an internet super-sleuth to find out anything. Ugh.

[Ellie]

So by snooping around some teacher's web sites on OTHER local public schools in the same district, I've discovered multiple links to McGraw-Hill Treasures for a Reading curriculum. I'm going to take a leap and assume that our school, literally four streets over and part of the same district, uses the same curriculum. That takes care of ONE of my questions. Sadly, no math links, or handwriting, or spelling (that's presumably included), science, etc.

 

This whole process disgusts me. I literally have to be an internet super-sleuth to find out anything. Ugh.

McGraw-Hill? Well, you can be assured that there's no true phonics being taught.:glare:

 

Oh, and FTR, McGraw-Hill is a publisher, not a curriculum. :-)

[TranquilMind]

I'm scoping out the various local public schools' web sites as a back-up plan in case we don't get in to any of the charters, and I can't for the life of me figure out what they even teach. I tried calling the district and one of the schools, and come ON. No one seems to have any answers. Sigh.

 

They don't think it is any of your business!

 

The only success I've had is by directly asking specific teachers what materials and books they were using.

[SKL]

I'm not sure if this is good or not, but my kids' school website has a page that shows many of the textbooks and has links to the publishers' websites, which offer independent exercises etc. At the moment, I have no intention of using any of these resources, but it makes me wonder if other parents do and whether my kids will be at some kind of disadvantage if we don't. I just feel that "more of the same" isn't necessarily helpful, regardless of the curriculum. But I guess it's nice to know this is there in case we have struggles.

 

Is there any reason why you can't just go to the school and look at the textbooks that are being used?

[eloquacious]

McGraw-Hill? Well, you can be assured that there's no true phonics being taught.:glare:

 

Oh, and FTR, McGraw-Hill is a publisher, not a curriculum. :-)

 

McGraw-Hill may not be, but Treasures is.

 

http://treasures.macmillanmh.com/arizona/students

 

 

Not that it matters. I saw dozens (DOZENS) of unused workbooks and texts at the Goodwill recently. I'm willing to bet that when the people at the district's main office mumbled something about "revamping" that meant that they're ditching this. I wonder what they're adopting? And moreover, I wonder why they're ditching it? This school has an over 90% pass rate of their state tests, and an "A/Excelling" status. Perhaps it's more of a school culture thing than the curriculum, because though the district is among the best in the state, that's not saying much given where AZ stands nationally.

 

For our own selfish purposes, I'm not worried about phonics. My son is a year out from starting KG and he is already reading whatever he wants. He mostly wants things like Nate the Great, but the other day he read to me from Charlotte's Web and did just fine. My concern is more to do with spelling, vocabulary, and grammar instruction: in other words, will I need to supplement?

 

Okay, edited again, because I didn't want to sound callous. I AM worried about phonics. But if we don't get in to the school we most want (which teaches a Spalding spin-off), we may have to "park" him in a local school, and that's annoying. That being said, ALLEGEDLY they use Spalding - at least, they are cited in the Spalding manual's introduction! But I haven't seen ANY indications of this. Perhaps their high reading scores are a result of using Spalding in early elementary and then they just "coast" with the other materials? FWIW, I noticed on the district's web site that when they refer to handwriting instruction, they still showed the Spalding clock face letters - so perhaps they ARE using Spalding, but just call that "spelling" and use the other stuff for "reading??"

Because I was curious I checked and saw that my old school district (Baltimore City Schools) now uses Open Court.

Edited September 1, 2012 by eloquacious

[Roadrunner]

We use CA Treasures by the same publisher and there is plenty of phonics. I don't know if it's because CA now requires phonics instruction. I volunteer in my son's classroom and I have not only seen those materials, but helped teach.

[mchel210]

I do not believe "most" public schools teach out of a Phonics book.

 

We used one in Private school, but not in public school.

[jennynd]

I'm scoping out the various local public schools' web sites as a back-up plan in case we don't get in to any of the charters, and I can't for the life of me figure out what they even teach. I tried calling the district and one of the schools, and come ON. No one seems to have any answers. Sigh.

 

Do u have the teacher websites? I can get all the info I need on teacher's website

[Ellie]

We use CA Treasures by the same publisher and there is plenty of phonics. I don't know if it's because CA now requires phonics instruction. I volunteer in my son's classroom and I have not only seen those materials, but helped teach.

California might "require" phonics, but the public schools chose to go with whole language, which is sight-reading in a more elaborate setting, instead of true phonics. IOW, when actually put into practice, it's sight reading with some phonics thrown in for good measure.

[Word Nerd]

Our school uses a phonics program that is similar to what I used when homeschooling.

 

I didn't find out most of the specific textbooks that our school uses until after we started school. In every grade, the teachers also pull a lot of other resources together and make their own instructional items, so the published materials are only a portion of what's used to teach.

[ZooRho]

I know that there are textbooks in our public library that are used in the Public schools.

[Roadrunner]

California might "require" phonics, but the public schools chose to go with whole language, which is sight-reading in a more elaborate setting, instead of true phonics. IOW, when actually put into practice, it's sight reading with some phonics thrown in for good measure.

 

It was like that in K, so we did OPGTR. They are teaching phonics in first grade though. Trust me, it is true phonics. I spend my volunteer time sounding out words with kids in my son's classroom. I am pleasantly surprised.

[eloquacious]

Our school uses a phonics program that is similar to what I used when homeschooling.

 

I didn't find out most of the specific textbooks that our school uses until after we started school. In every grade, the teachers also pull a lot of other resources together and make their own instructional items, so the published materials are only a portion of what's used to teach.

 

Hm, that's not the experience I had as a teacher, but then I taught middle years Language Arts. We didn't use Open Court then, but my experience in Baltimore was VERY similar to what Jen describes on her blog here. http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/ravenswood/open-court/

 

Incidentally, as I mentioned previously, Baltimore City does use Open Court now... so now they do have the "Open Court police." ;)

[akmommy]

Is there any reason why you can't just go to the school and look at the textbooks that are being used?

 

:iagree: if you call the school and let them know your child may be attending the school chances are they would arrange a tour and allow you to peruse the materials. When we chose to put our kids in school we just walked in one day when we knew it would be open and were able to meet with the principal of one and vice principal of the other that day. They wanted our business and were more then happy to answer our questions.

[Ellie]

It was like that in K, so we did OPGTR. They are teaching phonics in first grade though. Trust me, it is true phonics. I spend my volunteer time sounding out words with kids in my son's classroom. I am pleasantly surprised.

Because the word "phonics" is used in state guidelines, teachers who are more savvy can do true phonics, even though most schools do not; there was a Spalding-certified teacher in a public school in the San Francisco Bay area who did Spalding with her class. Kudos to your school for having some smarts. :)

[eloquacious]

Florence Akin's Word Mastery was written as a supplement for teachers, and would take a few minutes per day. This problem existed in 1913, too. (Of teachers trying to "sneak in" phonics.)

 

I wish I had known about it and other similar programs when I was teaching. My students, even though they were 11-15, would have benefitted tremendously.

 

 

The schools I called seemed disinclined to let me visit. They'll have parent information nights next spring, no doubt, but I would like to know now because it affects what we do this year. If we don't get into the Riggs school and he has to go to the local ps, and they DO still use Spalding, that will affect how I teach the phonograms this year, for instance.

[eloquacious]

So, I finally got a response from the district/school.

 

For both Math and Language Arts we are using the Common Core Standards. Both schools have a new District curriculum framework which teaches by the Standards and we adapt our materials to the standards. I have attached the first unit's curriculum framework.

 

For both schools the Langauge Arts' texts that the District has adopted are The Treasures series by MacMillan/McGraw-Hill. If we are trained to teach Spalding we use it for phonics and handwriting. Both Zuni Hills' Kindergarten teachers are trained in Spalding. It is not mandatory and the phonics in MacMillan/McGraw Hill can be used.

 

The District adopted text for Math is MacMillan/McGraw-Hill. Since the adoption of the Common Core Standards we at Zuni Hills only use the math texts as a resource. We also use materials developed by NTCM and Van de Walle. We teach using the Common Core Standards. Peoria Traditional School uses Singapore Math.

 

Our Science text is Harcourt Science and Social Studies text is Mamillian/McGraw-Hill Friends and Neighbors.

 

We use the Standards to teach and the texts as resources. We also use Safari Montage for video and streaming. I believe they are the same texts that Peoria Traditional School uses.