School board member, administrator seek common ground on language, methods

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Medicine and education have their own jargon – words and phrases that to those outside those professions sometimes seem indecipherable.

But they don’t have the same jargon, and people from those two worlds spent a little time at the Charles City Board of Education meeting this week working to find common ground — in how to describe some elements of teaching, as well as how to do the teaching itself.

Marcia DeVore, the Lincoln Elementary principal and leader of an effort to develop a handbook for the district’s curriculum management plan, had just finished a presentation on a draft of the handbook when one of the newest members of the school board, Dr. David Schrodt, said he had some questions regarding some of the language used, and what exactly was meant.

The first one he brought up was a phrase from the system’s purpose: “The purpose of the Charles City Community School District Curriculum and Assessment Management System is to provide a framework for the alignment of the developed and executed curriculum.”

DeVore said, “Basically what we’re trying to say there is that we want to set a framework so we know how we’re choosing curriculum and the process that we’re going to go through with that, so we can certainly bring clarity to that sentence if you find that confusing.”

Schrodt responded, “When you say you provide a framework for the ‘alignment’ of the developed and executed curriculum, I don’t know that it says what you just described.”

Superintendent Mike Fisher joined in, saying, “Alignment would speak to the grade level alignment – the fourth grade not aligned with fifth grade creates issues.”

DeVore said, “We see this cycle as being looking at PK-12 curriculum, so what we’re choosing at the elementary is aligned to what they’re using at the secondary as well.”

“That doesn’t say that to the novice,” Schrodt said,

“We really see this as being a document for the staff internal work,” DeVore said, “but it’s available to anybody if you want to understand how our process works.”

“I would say it should be as clear as possible,” Schrodt said.

He went on to mention a part of the section explaining the school district’s “instructional framework,” ending with the bullet point, “The students are able to construct their own knowledge.”

“I still don’t get that last one,” Schrodt said.

“When we talk about students being able to construct their own knowledge, we are really talking about the differences between teachers lecturing at students and trying to push knowledge into them that way, versus creating experiences where students have to take that knowledge that’s been shared and then use it in a way that builds upon the knowledge that they already have,” DeVore said. “So it’s about constructing and applying using the knowledge.”

“Isn’t that sort of covered in the other bullet points, saying students are ‘taking charge of their own learning’?” Schrodt asked.

DeVore said, “The distinction I’ve made for staff when we talk about that is, when we think about students or students taking charge of their own learning, we’re really talking about student choice, so that in the learning experiences that we’re creating for students we want to give them opportunities to have control over how they’re demonstrating their knowledge, or choice in maybe the pace in which they’re approaching that.

“So I think really what we’re looking at, there’s a nuance to the difference there, between student choice and students applying the learning,” DeVore said.

The two talked about some other language used in the draft proposal, then also talked about how students learn, and how they demonstrate what they’ve learned.

Schrodt used the example of a pre-calculus class. There are certain things a student has to learn to be able to go on to the next math level – “they don’t get to decide what it is they’re supposed to learn,” he said.

“Sure,” DeVore said, “but they might get choices in how they’re going to learn it, how they’re going to demonstrate that they learned it.”

“I guess I’ve got a problem with that,” Schrodt said. “Is that how things are done? Because I’m thinking, when I was in medical school that’s not how it worked.”

DeVore said, “Research is showing that one way to engage students and keep them involved in wanting to learn is by giving them options to choose how they can demonstrate their learning. That is a very important part.”

Schrodt said, “None of my high school classes did we ever get a choice. You just did it.”

Superintendent Fisher said, “Something that’s very new for society the last 20 years is what I call the economy of knowledge. Knowledge is unbelievably cheap anymore because we can google so many facts.”

At one time, students had to memorize so many things because if they didn’t, that information wouldn’t be available to them. Now, with access to information so easy, it’s more important to concentrate on how they are going to apply that knowledge – how are they going to use it, Fisher said.

Schrodt said he wanted to make sure that when the district was choosing  a curriculum, it was choosing one based on what was being taught, that it was the best information available on a subject.

DeVore said, “If we’re looking at a biology textbook that has examples that incorporate students being able to adapt or communicate, as opposed to one where it is just listing out facts, we want our teachers to have that (first) resource available.”

Schrodt said, “I just hope when we’re picking a biology book, it’s the best textbook to teach the knowledge of biology.”

“Agreed,” DeVore said.

Also at the Board of Education meeting this week, the board:

• Approved the school calendar for the 2022-23 school year. Classes will begin Wednesday, Aug. 24; winter break will be Dec. 23 to Jan. 3; spring break will be March 13 to 17; and the last day of classes is scheduled to be early dismissal on Thursday, May 25. There were no comments made during a public hearing regarding the proposed calendar

• Approved early retirement effective after next school year, June 30, 2023, for Erik Hoefer, middle school leadership team; Albert “Rusty” Rogtozke, middle school phys ed teacher; Steven Stallsmith, phys ed teacher; and Jim Lundberg, ag teacher.

Between the four teachers there is 126 years of experience – Lundberg, 40 years; Stallsmith, 36 years; Hoefer, 33 years; and Rogtozke, 17 years.

Fisher said the news was bittersweet. “Four of our best people that we love very dearly in our family have decided that it’s that time and they’re going to ask for the early retirement option. We have one more year to celebrate them.”

Teachers who give the district a year’s advance notice of their retirement, by Feb. 1 of the year before they retire, receive 50% of their current year base salary as a payment. If they announce their retirement without that advance notice they receive 25% of their current base salary.

The plan was put into place several years ago to entice teachers to give the district more advance notice of retirement so the district can be more methodical about how or if they are replaced.

• Approved issuing $1.076 million in general obligation school capital loan notes to pay the district’s cost of remodeling at the 500 North Grand Building as part of TLC: The Learning Center moving its child care services there this summer.

That includes splitting the newer section from the older section facing North Grand Ave. that developer Shawn Foutch purchased to convert into apartments, by installing a firewall between the two sections; installing a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system to serve the newer section; replacing the roof; and separating utility lines.

TLC is paying the cost of internal remodeling, and the school district is paying the cost of upgrading and maintaining the “shell” of the building.

TLC has a no-cost lease with the school district for five years with an option to buy.

• Approved personnel appointments: Jenna Haglund, social worker; Jennifer Mohs, ELL teacher; Hailey Jo Fransen, varsity girls head soccer coach; Luke Anderson, 9th grade baseball coach; and Levi Neimann, middle school assistant drama.