Jul 6, 2022 4 min read

Bethlehem-Center School District is making a sizable financial commitment to its curriculum for language arts and math for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Superintendent Donald MacFann said about $322,000, acquired through the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), has been earmarked for the curriculum.

“It’s definitely a need, and we have the funds to do so at this point,” MacFann said.

ESSER is federal funding designed to help schools address the academic, social, emotional and mental health needs of students.

MacFann said various factors led the district toward this step, not the least of which is the primary grades language arts textbooks are dated 2003.

“We did a needs assessment with all professional staff at the beginning of the year, particularly with our K-8 teachers,” MacFann explained. “It clearly came back that we need more resources placed into the curriculum instruction.”

Low scores on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) testing were another factor.

“When you look at our current scores, we were less than 25% proficient in language arts and less than 50% in math,” MacFann said. “Teachers have clearly made known to us is that it is very difficult to align with standards and close the gaps in the curriculum when the last purchase of a language arts textbook for the primary grades in Beth-Center was 2003. You definitely need to move forward with something that’s aligned to the current standards.”

Betsy D’Emidio, director of curriculum, instruction and student services, said some teachers opt not to use such an old textbook and find their own resources, while others use the textbook.

“We have great teachers here, but they lacked the resources to provide effective instruction in the classroom to where it’s aligned through each grade level to make sure they are following the (Pennsylvania) core standards that are required,” she said. “It’s extremely important that we get these textbook series in here, so we can ensure that our staff is consistent with what they are teaching our kids. There are a lot of gaps right now with the instruction and we want to make sure we are doing whatever we can to fill those gaps. “

MacFann said the hope is to have the new curriculum in place by the start of the upcoming school year or at least shortly after it begins. There are plans for parents to have a chance to view some of the content the district is considering.

Two textbook vendors are being considered for the curriculum – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and McGraw Hill.

D’Emidio said the vendors have been told that the staff will need an opportunity for professional development to get accustomed to the new curriculum.

“it’s our intention to provide professional development to our staff to ensure that they know how to effectively utilize the new program we put in place regardless of what textbook series we go with,” she said. “We can’t expect them to implement something if we aren’t providing them with the appropriate foundation and knowledge they need to be able to use that for instruction.”

Many parties have been involved in the decision-making process such as the district’s curriculum committee, parents advisory committee, administration and school board.

MacFann said teachers also have been involved and seem pleased with what they have seen.

“We have a great, great staff here, especially our professional staff and the teachers, and they definitely add valuable insight to some of these major items that we’re looking to change,” MacFann said. “This definitely will close the gap between the standards and between the grade levels.”