Gazette: Montgomery school board to consider new elementary curriculum

Framework for K-5 curriculum expected to receive preliminary approval Monday
by Andrew Ujifusa | Staff Writer

Members of the school board are expected to give preliminary approval to the "K-5 Curriculum Frameworks" on Sept. 27...

...The school board will consider final approval of the framework at a later date, probably in November or December...

...The school system is developing a new "integrated curriculum" for elementary schools that blends instruction in subjects such as science, social studies and art into core curriculum areas such as reading, writing and mathematics. The goal is to improve instruction across all areas and satisfy concerns that subjects outside core areas have not received enough attention, according to school officials.

The new curriculum is being developed in conjunction with a private, N.J.-based educational publishing company, Pearson Education, which will be able to market and sell the curriculum to school districts nationwide, while the county school system would receive royalties from any sales. The deal has attracted critics who say they are concerned about the collaboration between the school system and a private entity.

A Sept. 22 letter from Frederick Stichnoth, president of the Gifted and Talented Association of Montgomery County, which represents parents of gifted students, criticized the board's failure to solicit more community input before the Sept. 27 meeting.

He also said the integrated curriculum could lead to the watering-down of subjects such as science, and that it would create a "one-size-fit-all" curriculum inappropriate for some students.