Did math classes violate board policies?
COEUR d’ALENE — Some officials and teachers at the Coeur d’Alene School District may have violated district policy by implementing a new math curriculum without board approval last year.
According to a Sept. 21 memo from Mike Nelson, director of curriculum and assessments, and Trina Caudle, director of secondary education, during the spring of 2017 Coeur d’Alene High School math department chair Adam Hanan and district math instructional coach Ryan Gillespie decided to move forward with changes to “the Algebra I curriculum within the guidelines of Board Procedure 2100P” with Nelson and Caudle’s approval.
This took place after Nelson and Gillespie had asked the school board for approval to move the district’s secondary math sequence from the traditional Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II sequence to an integrated Math 1, Math 2, Math 3 sequence. The board had asked Nelson and Gillespie to hold off on implementing the new curriculum, “and directed the administration to include more community involvement and planning.”
Board Procedure 2100P allows teachers to add or eliminate up to 25 percent of a course’s objectives without board approval. Over the course of the spring and summer of 2017, Nelson and Caudle did not follow up with Hanan and Gillespie regarding the proposed changes. During the 2017-18 school year, CHS math teachers began an “Algebra 1 pilot” program which included geometry “infusions.” Lake City and Venture high schools were unaffected by the pilot, according to the memo. The memo noted that it was not until Feb. 15, 2018, that a district ad hoc committee began to ask questions about the pilot program.
“During the ad hoc committee meetings, there was disagreement between the meaning of the terms ‘infusion’ and ‘pilot.’ There was also confusion between what types of curricular changes were allowed by procedure 2100P and what constituted a board-approved pilot,” wrote Nelson and Caudle.
On April 16, the board approved the integrated Math 1 course but not Math 2 and 3. Some members of the ad hoc committee submitted a minority report.
On May 29, Hanan emailed Caudle, Gillespie, Nelson, and Libby Keyes, CHS assistant principal. Hanan requested guidance on how to plan 2018-19 school year geometry courses for the students who had taken the 2017-18 Algebra I pilot. According to the memo, Caudle responded by noting “if they changed more than policy allowed, they would need to seek board approval for a pilot.” No other communication between the school and the district office regarding geometry curriculum changes took place until the 2018-19 year began.
At that time, CHS students began receiving a mix of competing syllabi for either Math 2 or geometry. According to the memo, one CHS math teacher gave students “the draft Math 2 scope and sequence to ALP Geometry parents and students on the first days of classes. Math 2 is not a board approved course.” Two other CHS math teachers “provided students and parents with a Geometry Course Syllabus containing a list of both Algebra and Geometry learning targets.” A separate CHS math teacher “did not provide any learning targets on the Geometry Course Syllabus.”
After investigating, Nelson and Caudle reported that CHS geometry teachers had “collaborated to alter the Geometry course learning targets to include Algebra I concepts not taught during the Math 1 pilot, integrate a few Algebra II targets, and reduce non-essential Geometry targets.”
The teachers acted under the belief that they were changing the course by 25 percent or less. However, “when one calculates the changes based on learning targets and the time spent on those targets over the course of the year, the curriculum change is closer to 33 percent,” noted the memo. Superintendent Steve Cook explained that “The manner in which the 25 percent is calculated was not clearly articulated in the policy so it’s difficult to say” whether policy 2100P was violated. The district has recommended suspending policies 2100P and 2100 until they can be better harmonized.
“Updates to Policy 2100 are currently out for public feedback for 30 days with action likely to be taken at our November meeting. Staff is recommending Policy 2100P to be suspended until the results of a curricular audit are shared with the board (likely this spring),” Cook said.
A total of 224 students took part in the 2017-18 Algebra 1 pilot class.
The report noted that “Bret Heller, CHS principal, has taken appropriate action with specific staff members,” and that all math syllabi district-wide have been collected “to isolate the problem.”
The school district is assessing whether there are gaps in students’ understanding of math. Cook said “we don’t expect it to be a substantial additional cost.” The district administered a pre-assessment math test to all Math 1 and ALP Math 8 students and is contracting with Northwest Evaluation Association to provide “a nationally-normed assessment to identify gaps in instruction for all students in Math 1, ALP Math 1, Geometry, ALP Geometry, and Algebra 2 courses.” In all, 1,900 students will be affected, said the memo. The district will hire outside agencies to audit its curriculum and expects to have initial findings in January, said Nelson and Caudle. “The audit is expected to identify gaps in content throughout the district for all levels and content areas.” Also, the district will seek to bring back the math ad hoc committee and ask it to present recommendations on Math 2 in March.
“Our students deserve a rigorous and relevant math education and we are diligently working to that end. These moves are to ensure that this is the outcome. I believe that we all are motivated by a mutual interest in doing what is right and best for our students. I am confident we will succeed with the continued involvement, support, and dedication of our school board, our teachers, administrators, and our parents and community,” said the superintendent.
To read the full memo, go to www.cdaschools.org/Page/8878.