parent and community input

Searcy School District Curriculum Questions/Answers Part 2

1. What other programs were reviewed for adoption? The committee selected three curriculum programs from the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and those included Benchmark Workshop, Core Knowledge Language Arts, and Wit & Wisdom.

 2. Did teachers voice any concerns to the committee regarding Wit & Wisdom curriculum? Yes, challenges regarding all three curriculum options were addressed. Committee members listed positives and challenges for each program. The positives for Wit & Wisdom outweighed the other choices, and the challenges were less than the other two.  The committee determined that the authenticity of the award-winning texts aligned with the Wit & Wisdom curriculum was better than Benchmark Workshop or Core Knowledge Language Arts.

3. Did everyone on the committee agree upon the adoption of Wit & Wisdom?  Voted on by majority? Who had the final say? The committee members who represented their campus voted by majority to adopt the Wit & Wisdom curriculum. The committee had the final say.

 4. How was the committee chosen? (outside stakeholders?) The principals selected committee members consisting of classroom teachers, literacy facilitators, principals, assistant principals, and district administrators/facilitators. 

K-5 Literacy Curriculum Selection Process

11/11/2020- The committee determined that a district-wide consistent curriculum was necessary and should address Arkansas State Literacy Standards.  

12/9/2020-Team members completed a rubric for each curriculum. Using the rubric, campuses completed a chart of strengths and weaknesses. After this meeting, campus principals were  polled and  eliminated Benchmark Workshop because it was not chosen as any campus’s first selection.

1/12/2021 At this meeting team members discussed their thoughts as they worked through an activity for a deeper dive into the Core Knowledge Language Arts and Wit and Wisdom curriculums. Team members planned a lesson using both curriculums. Only one lesson needed to be planned per building for CKLA and Wit & Wisdom. These specific lessons were chosen because they had been referenced during curriculum planning meetings . 

 Following the January 12 meeting, Searcy School District’s committee consensus was that it would adopt the Wit & Wisdom curriculum K-5. 

 3/17/2021 The Wit & Wisdom curriculum was displayed for at least a month prior to the March 17th regularly scheduled board meeting. The Searcy School District Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt the Wit & Wisdom Reading Program.