Middle-schoolers at Indian Prairie School District 204 will see some different course offerings next year.
The district’s school board recently approved changes to two current offerings, and heard a presentation on potential changes to the middle school social studies curriculum.
The two course changes that were approved on Jan. 12 by the board were for an eighth-grade Project Lead the Way course on flight and space, and a change to the existing study skills offering for seventh- graders.
At a meeting of the school board last month, Brian Giovanini, the district’s Director of Innovation, discussed the rationale for the changes and what the new courses will entail next year.
First, eighth-grade students will, starting next year, have the opportunity to take a Project Lead the Way course on flight and space. The current eighth-grade Project Lead the Way offering was a course on energy and the environment.
The district is proposing the change, Giovanini said at the December meeting, because the energy and environment course has been in the district for more than a decade, but hasn’t been updated recently by Project Lead the Way.
He noted that flight and space has been a topic of interest for students, and was the favorite among several options when the district surveyed seventh- and eighth-grade students. It would also complement offerings at the high school, like the district’s engineering pathway.
The course will be project-based, like other Project Lead the Way offerings, Giovanini noted, and will relate to current events in terms of things like space exploration and drone technology. The final project involves planning a mission to Mars.
The course will not replace the required eighth-grade science course, Giovanini clarified in response to a question from board Vice President Allison Fosdick.
The other proposal approved Jan. 12 is a change to the existing, one-quarter seventh-grade study skills course. Starting next year, it will become a semester class called Design & Discovery.
The course would still cover executive functioning and study skills — like time management, organization and test preparation — but will now include components related to entrepreneurship and innovation, which, according to Giovanini, will allow students to “solve some problems of high interest to them.” The class will also have a component exposing students to different career paths.
Giovanini cited greater student choice and improved scheduling among the benefits of the shift.
Board member Natasha Grover asked about whether the new course was replacing study skills, and Giovanini confirmed that study skills will no longer be an option for seventh-graders, as students will have the Design & Discovery course available instead. Sixth-grade students will still take a study skills class, he noted.
Both changes received unanimous approval from the school board at its meeting on Jan. 12.
Also discussed on Jan. 12 were some proposed changes to the middle school social studies curriculum.
The changes were already piloted this school year, explained Barbi Chisholm, the district’s director of middle school curriculum. That pilot saw significant interest from social studies teachers, 92% of whom participated.
Chisholm explained that district teachers have cited challenges with teaching the existing social studies curriculum. For many of them, social studies is not their primary area of expertise, leaving them looking for more resources. The district’s most recent curriculum adoption for social studies did not include a core resource, which many teachers felt was missing.
The district then conducted a survey of teachers and students, she explained. It showed that students found much of the learning relevant, with a balance between the local and global, and that the existing curriculum was “inquiry-focused” and provided the flexibility teachers needed to meet student needs.
But, there was a desire for more resources for teachers, as well as more interactive, discussion-based activities, Chisholm noted. The survey results also indicated a desire for more “knowledge-building,” essentially helping students build a base of historical knowledge.
Currently, middle school students in District 204 learn ancient history in sixth grade, world geography and culture in seventh grade and U.S. history in eighth grade.
The new proposal, however, would shift the curriculum that so sixth-graders learn world geography and culture, and United States history would be spread across seventh and eighth grade.
The seventh-grade U.S. history curriculum, per the Jan. 12 presentation, would cover things like the American Revolution and the forming of the nation and leave off with the nation’s expansion. Eighth grade would pick up with the nation’s expansion and America in the mid-1800s and cover the Civil War, World War II and modern America, among other topics. The eighth-grade curriculum would also have a stand-alone financial literacy unit — which, right now, is part of the seventh-grade curriculum.
Chisholm explained that the Illinois State Board of Education provides considerable flexibility in middle school social studies as to the specific courses and focus areas offered, but said that there are “a lot of instructional mandates related to social studies.”
Currently, most of the state instructional mandates are being covered in eighth grade, which Chisholm said “makes it difficult for … eighth-graders to have a cohesive learning experience.”
The curriculum revisions, partially driven by these requirements, distribute those mandates across seventh and eighth grade, Chisholm said.
As for ancient history, Chisholm said that the sixth-grade curriculum will incorporate the study of world cultures, including their historical context.
“This is not a typical pathway by many districts,” Chisholm said. “However … I am confident in the work of the team and that this is the right path for Indian Prairie, for our teachers and our students.”
The changes would include new course materials from the Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, which would amount to a total cost to the district of $650,000.
Christy Diamond, who teaches eighth-grade social studies at Fischer Middle School, said the pilot has been beneficial in that it has created more cohesion and a sense of chronological structure. She said that teaching history as a timeline, rather than by theme, has been positive because students “don’t have enough historical knowledge that they are bringing into the classroom … to have those inquiry discussions yet.”
The multimodal ways of accessing textbook materials have also been beneficial, Diamond noted.
The transition to the new textbook materials being piloted has been a smooth one according to Still Middle School sixth-grade social studies and English Language Arts teacher Shannon Grevas, who noted that many students used Teachers’ Curriculum Institute materials in elementary school. Grevas pointed to positive feedback on things like the opportunity to learn about different Indigenous groups and engage in role-playing activities.
At the meeting, Grover asked about the shift to two years of U.S. history, leaving only one year for world culture. Chisholm acknowledged that that was a challenge they faced, and that the district wanted to make sure they cover what happens outside the U.S., but said that their rationale is that middle school students don’t have “enough foundational knowledge of U.S. history” and that two years is needed to “meaningfully” address the state instructional mandates.
Diamond also noted that a significant portion of the U.S. history curriculum is civics, not just the history itself.
Board member Susan Taylor-Demming asked about how they ensure compliance with state mandates on curriculum, and Chisholm said that the district is audited periodically to ensure it is meeting state requirements.
Taylor-Demming also asked whether students would have physical textbooks, and Chisholm said that they would, but that digital resources would still be available.
Fosdick asked about the transition to high school, and Chisholm said meetings have been held with the high school department chairs. Fosdick also asked if this proposal meant students will be “oversaturated” with the amount of U.S. history, particularly since it will be required again in high school.
Chisholm and Diamond both acknowledged that that was a point of discussion, but Diamond pointed to a need to give students a foundation of historical knowledge to help them with other subjects, like ELA, which she teaches.
“I think one of the things that we forget in looking at individual curriculums is that our students are seeing content throughout the day, and that, in order to attend to a majority of our ELA curriculum, they also need to have a foundational knowledge of history,” Diamond said.
She explained that seventh-grade students recently read “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson, for example, but hadn’t yet learned about segregation in the U.S.
“We need to make sure that they’re getting a great source, quality information,” Diamond said. “And if they get it more than once, then they’re getting it more than once, but they’re at least getting it.”
Chisholm said that was part of the reason this particular resource was chosen for the curriculum, as it allows for inquiry and embeds civics and economics so the courses don’t just teach the key dates and people in history.
“We wanted to make sure we’re not just delivering history,” Chisholm said. “We’re not just marching through time. It’s, you know, where’s the context?”
The changes to the social studies curriculum are set to go to the school board for final approval at its meeting on Jan. 26. If approved, the curriculum changes would launch district-wide in the fall.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
