Dist. 204 readies for overhaul of math, language arts

Products ranging from household cleaning supplies to Tang drink mix line the shelves behind a woman named Liset pictured in her home-based store in Nicaragua.

She would like a loan of $800 to expand her store’s offerings to include rice, sugar, oil and other items. It is the task of a classroom of fourth graders to decide whether she should get the loan.

It’s an example of a possible lesson that might be offered next year as part of an overhaul of the math and language arts curriculum in Indian Prairie District 204.

That one exercise touches on many different lessons — from math and working with money to critical thinking to communication and global awareness. It also meets the goals of a national movement to better prepare students for college and a globally competitive workplace. School districts across Illinois are revamping their curriculum as the state has become one of many to adopt “Common Core” standards as part of the “Partnership for 21st Century Skills.”

District 204 school board members this week received an update on how district officials are revamping language arts and math curriculum in kindergarten through high school and on technology curriculum being implemented in the district. Illinois State Board of Education plans call for students to be assessed on the new standards in the 2014-2015 school year.

The curriculum overhaul is an enormous, complicated undertaking that involves embedding different kinds of material into lessons from global life skills including the state board ‘s social/emotional learning standards tied to the “four C’s” of the 21st Century skills — all buzzwords being used by educators today. The “four C’s” are: critical thinking/problem solving; communication; collaboration: and creativity/innovation.

“There is a lot that needs to be integrated,” said Jay Strang, assistant superintendent of curriculum. “We can’t have 20 different classes teaching each of these things.”

Right now, about 150 teachers are concentrating on rewriting math and language arts curriculum with plans to begin training staff next spring and summer.

“The first thing (the teachers) did was to look at those standards and to really unwrap them,” said Allison Sherman, director of core curriculum.

Now, teachers are writing instructional units. The new material will be taught next fall. Assessments on the new standards will begin in the 2014-2015 school year. District officials anticipate an overhaul of the science curriculum next year as the state has new standards for that subject in the works.

Also, work is being done in District 204 to integrate technology lessons into the high school curriculum. Already lessons and assessments have been created for elementary and middle school students with nearly 80 percent of students at all those schools mastering technological skills.

In addition, the district is also adding engineering classes for high school students. The first class, engineering design, will be taught this year to 192 students. During the next three years, digital electronics, civil engineering and architecture, principles of engineering and a capstone course called engineering design and development will be offered.