High School Instructional Changes Create Concerns
A Report from the Coalition Education Committee

In March, the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Board of Directors approved a recommendation to develop a single, district-wide curriculum and agreed to a three-year contract with Kaplan K-12 Learning Services, LLC to custom design curricula, assessments and professional development. The use of a single district-wide instructional program would reduce costs, create more efficient centralized support and minimize the disruption that occurs for students who transfer within the District.

At a meeting of the Allderdice PTO in late April, a standing room only crowd heard Dr. Lynn Spampinato, Deputy Superintendent and Mr. Seppi Basili of Kaplan K-12 Learning Services outline what the proposed curriculum changes would mean for Dice students beginning in September 2006:

• Five courses would be revamped – Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, 9th and 10th grade English. (Remaining subjects would be revamped in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.)
• Every teacher would receive the same materials and would be held to the same standard.
• All materials would be aligned to the Pennsylvania state standards with provisions for teachers to supplement or enrich instruction depending on the needs of their students.
• Benchmark tests would be given every six weeks to measure progress towards state standards and to provide the data that would direct recommendations for interventions if needed.

Concerns about CAS surfaced quickly. As the table below shows, teachers, parents and administrators saw a huge gap between what the district was proposing and what currently existed. Outgoing Allderdice principal, Dr. Cassandra Richardson-Kemp, is on record as having recommended leaving the CAS curriculum unchanged; in her opinion it was “working, research-based and still relevant.”

Critics from around the country question the advisability of a single curriculum at the high school level, primarily in its ability to meet the needs of a broad range of student preparation. While district teachers think that the new math textbook series can meet the needs of different levels of students, the choice is not universally applauded. One national math expert labeled the text “very poor” in terms of its content. And, the prospect of using the same materials for all students in English, science and social studies caused general alarm locally. One former teacher noted that using the same materials for all students in these subject areas would be very inappropriate due to reading level. Many CAS students enter high school reading at substantially above grade level; other students can be well below grade level.

There is no question that there are critical needs for improved achievement in Pittsburgh high schools. The majority of low income students in the district scored below proficient in math and reading last year. Drastic measures are required when 80% of a significant student population is below proficient in math and 65% in reading. As one parent pointed out, however, “When things are not working, doing something is often better than maintaining the present course. However, the approach has to change when setting out to improve something that is working, and as is the case at Allderdice, working very well.”

2005 PSSA Results Pittsburgh 11th Graders
Proficiency Levels	Math	Reading
Total
% Advanced	17	24
% Proficient	21	28
% Basic	18	15
% Below Basic	43	33
Economically Disadvantaged
% Advanced	6	12
% Proficient	16	23
% Basic	21	18
% Below Basic	57	47
Allderdice CAS
% Advanced	66	75
% Proficient	25	20

The Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition Education Committee held two meetings to discuss community concerns about changing the CAS curriculum with Dr. Spampinato, one in May and another in June. As a result of those meetings, Dr. Spampinato has indicated that the district will modify its approach for the CAS curriculum somewhat – there will now be some CAS specific materials and, for English, a CAS reading list. The content and performance expectations for CAS English will still be aligned to the 11th grade state performance standards, but Dr. Spampinato has also indicated that they will exceed them, so “students will be working above and beyond the level of the state standards.” She has not identified the standard to be used. Additionally, it is not yet clear how the district will manage the benchmark tests for the CAS student group.

While these appear to be positive developments, concern about changes to the CAS curriculum remains keen primarily because there have been no materials to review. The first quarter’s curriculum won’t be available to review until just before school is ready to start. Also, the rapid pace and time constraints allow virtually no time for the community, school administrators and teachers to review, digest and respond to the proposed changes. The consensus from the Coalition meetings was to request the district to delay any changes to CAS until they could be thoroughly evaluated. The Coalition formally requested this delay sighting the grave risks associated with making changes to this successful program in such a hasty manner.