School board adopts controversial English curriculum

After one of the most polarizing textbook adoptions in recent memory, the future of English instruction in Douglas County secondary schools is written in the pages of a new curriculum that many teachers felt was the wrong choice for students.

On Tuesday, board members voted 5-2, with Randy Green and Keith Roman voting nay, to adopt the controversial SpringBoard textbook/curriculum in grades 7-11 and pilot the program in senior English.

"I think if we start all over, we'll still have controversy," said Board Vice President Tom Moore. "I understand the challenges, but with the quality of teachers in the district, I believe that they have the ability to take this product and do wonders."

Trustee Cindy Trigg said she was confident in the research behind SpringBoard and likewise had faith in the district's teachers to make it work.

"Expanding the definition of reading is something that really appeals to me," she said. "It's time to get on board with this and get on to the task of healing and moving forward."

Board President Teri Jamin said SpringBoard was initiated in response to the board's own directive to increase rigor in middle school English language arts.

"If we don't support it now, then we don't support our own interjection in the strategic planning process," she said.

Trustee Karen Chessell said teachers and students seem split 50-50 on the issue. She said it's in the best interest of students to make a decision.

"I think the concept of the program is good," she said. "It has to be a collaborative effort, if it's expected to work."

Sharla Hales addressed charges that the district manipulated the adoption process.

"I don't think controversy should be the basis for a decision," she said. "The question should be if the program increases student achievement and the common good. I don't think there is another program like SpringBoard."

In opposition to the majority of his colleagues, Roman raised concerns about the political agenda of the SpringBoard curriculum. He read an excerpt from the Web site of SpringBoard developer College Board, which describes the senior English curriculum as "using archetypal, historical, feminist, Marxist, reader response, and cultural criticism theories."

"My biggest problem with the SpringBoard curriculum is that it is social studies disguised as English language arts," he said. "English has its own core curriculum, which has its own knowledge base, and this is not it. There is no doubt in my mind that the majority of teachers don't want to teach this, and the people who have to open the doors, go in the classrooms and make this work are the teachers."

Green agreed that teachers have to be on board. He said the district has been pursuing "vertical alignment" for 17 years and that the process via SpringBoard is not finished.

"I don't feel comfortable analyzing English curriculum," he said. "I don't know why we wouldn't employ a multitude of strategies."

Green said he's heard from SpringBoard opponents that there are some good things in the curriculum. On the other hand, he's heard from SpringBoard proponents that the program is not perfect.

"There has to be a compromise, but it has to be a principled compromise," he said. "I don't want to vote on a product until we finish the process."

Green hoped the district office and teachers would work together in the future, come back and say, "We got it."

"Instructors know that our goal is to align curriculum and increase student achievement," he said.

But other board members felt a decision was needed Tuesday.

"This is not something I want to leave for the new superintendent," Trigg said. "I'm not in favor of continuing the subject."

Preceding the board's final decision were more than three hours of fiery debate during which advocates and dissenters made their case.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Kerry Pope said SpringBoard is not the end of literature. She called into question the charge that SpringBoard encompasses only one novel a year - a misconception, she believed, arising from what she considered an inaccurate quote in The Record-Courier.

"No anthology out there is going to include 10 novels," she said. "SpringBoard brings excerpts from different cultures and different types of media. It has a multitude of different types of information for students that they have to analyze and put together."

Pope said each SpringBoard unit has suggestions for independent reading. She said a ninth-grade honors English class at Carson Valley Middle School provided "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Romeo and Juliet" as in-class texts while including "Fahrenheit 451," "Frankenstein," "The Odyssey" and five other books as supplements.

"It's meant to encourage student choice," she said.

But critics argued that student choice may lead to students using online study guides and cheating their way through a watered-down curriculum.

"The only book kids at home are going to read is Facebook," said parent Susan Frost. "As a taxpayer, I'm disgusted by the money spent on this book."

By adopting SpringBoard, Frost said, the board is "taking away the passion and dedication of their (teachers') jobs one SpringBoard-mandated page at a time."

The district puts the cost of SpringBoard at $62,046 a year.

Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School teacher John Leiknes argued that one has to take into account the cost of supplements necessary to make the curriculum effective.

He then questioned what kind of supplements can realistically be included.

"MacBatman? Green Eggs and Hamlet?" he said. "We don't want to lower the bar."

Leiknes said SpringBoard lacks the majority of literary titles found in the Advanced Placement test.

"Know what else is on the AP test? Shakespeare," he said. "There's not a lot of old stuff in here (SpringBoard). Why? Because it's difficult."

Pau-Wa-Lu Principal Keith Lewis disagreed. He said SpringBoard follows the district's strategic plan to increase rigor and align curriculum.

"I absolutely disagree with the contention that teachers have not been able to provide input," he said. "SpringBoard is not perfect, but neither was English language arts instruction before it."

Lewis said he's seen "positive and obvious change in classrooms where SpringBoard has been implemented."

"I believe strongly that a common curriculum affords all students the opportunity to learn," he said.

Parent Cheryl Blomstrom said the English curriculum six years ago was woefully lacking, specifically for gifted and talented students.

"If not this, then what?" she said. "I think if SpringBoard is implemented properly, then it's the right way to go. I think what's missing from SpringBoard is training."

Pope said the district is committed to providing the right training and professional development for its teachers. She said while she's confident in the SpringBoard product, she's worried about the fractures that have occurred as result of the debate. Because of the divisiveness, she said, teachers who have worked together for years are no longer on friendly terms.

Reading a letter on behalf of fellow CVMS teacher Danielle Campbell, Nicolle Larson asked board members, "Why are we considering a product that is polarizing rather than unifying the Douglas County School District?"