Fort Wayne Community School System teachers spent the last three weeks creating new math and English curriculums for the 2018-2019 school year. The school system is planning to implement the new changes this fall.
About 140 teachers were selected to collaborate with the school system’s curriculum team, as well as a pair of consultant groups to change the way subjects are taught district-wide.
“We are at a point where we recognize the need for a universal, rigorous across all schools and grade levels in the District,” said FWCS Superintendent Wendy Robinson in a statement. “This curriculum is designed to challenge students to their potential and allow teachers to focus on the individual needs of students as they move through the curriculum.”
Teachers were split into groups depending what subject and level they teach, including all grade levels and specialties including special education, English learners and honors course teachers.
Lindsay Racine is a Special Education and sophomore English teacher at Wayne High school. She helped write the 10th grade English curriculum, and her group wrote 140 lessons in three weeks, focusing on creating project-based lessons.
“I think it’s going to change the way we think, in a positive way. I think the children are going to be more prepared,” Racine said. “They are reading text that are at their level or a little more difficult. I think it’s going to push the rigor and push our kids to work harder.”
Tyler Sellhorn will teach Algebra I at Towles New Tech this year and is helping develop the Geometry curriculum. He says the main thing teachers should focus on is building the relationship that helps motivate students and facilitates the opportunity to learn.
Sellhorn says parents and students will see some minor changes in their school work.
“Maybe the types of questions that students are going to come home with are going to be slightly different.” said Sellhorn. “Because we are going to be thinking a lot more conceptually and there is going to be a little less of the skill and drill, one through 31 odds, type of homework assignment that might come home.”
A grant awarded to the school district paid for the new curriculum development and the teacher’s stipends. The new curriculum will roll out on the first day of school on Aug. 14.