Adopting A New English Curriculum

Hannah Nguyen

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Brier Terrace, along with the other schools in the district, has adopted a new English curriculum. In the past, each teacher developed their own targets for the students, opting to choose their own subjects (there was no published curriculum). Now, students of the same grade have the same curriculum.

The new curriculum was established by a group of teachers from middle school and high school. These teachers got together, looked at three different programs, and then sampled them. Collections, the name of the new curriculum, was chosen by a majority vote, and other factors, such as the ability for the teachers to edit.

Each student has a Chromebook this year, so they can access the online platform that Collections provides. That makes it easier to use compared to previous years. The curriculum allows students to practice from home, practice reading and annotating, and it allows them to take their tests online.

Collections seems very easy to operate and understand for the students, and there does not seem to be a problem with it. The seventh graders will still use novels, like Crispin, even though there is a new curriculum. Eighth graders, however, do not have a set book yet.

According to Ms. Burton, “The new curriculum provides more structure, quality texts, and corresponding assessments…throughout the district.” She likes how the curriculum provides consistency, diagnostic assessments and links to the common core. However, Ms. Burton wishes that there is a better way to differentiate the texts between each grade level.

“[The online platform] is a good improvement due to how we can now just access it easily on our Chromebooks rather than having to carry around the heavy physical edition,” says eighth grader Derek Nguyen. “A few clicks away on your Chromebook and you’re set to easily access it wherever you are.”

“I think it’s pretty good. I like some of the stories that are in there,” said Mr. Tucker when asked about Collections. Mr. Tucker also thinks that the new English curriculum will benefit the students because of its better stories, and the online platform allowing students to use their Chromebooks and be more organized. He says that he prefers the new curriculum over making his own curriculum for the students because he is able to use parts of his old curriculum, and that “it’s good that there’s a curriculum for teachers to follow.”

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