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WILTON, Conn. The Wilton Board of Education has started to take a hard look at its curriculum standards as part of Connecticut state requirements.
What were doing now is a gap analysis, Assistant Superintendent Tim Canty said during a presentation last week to the Board of Education. The district is looking at specific areas such as English/language arts and mathematics and determining where the schools stand compared with state objectives.
We have to work over the course of the next two years to be sure that our programs are aligned with the state standards, Canty said. A total of 45 states have adopted Common Cores State Standards, he said.
While the standards may be good, were getting a one size fits all thing, and that is a little bit disconcerting, Superintendent Gary Richards said in voicing his concerns on common standards during the meeting.
But Middlebrook Middle School Language Arts teacher Christine Markley said at the meeting that the standards have always been treated as a minimum. The standards dont set the ceiling; they set the foundation, Canty said.
Currently, the English/language arts program is being redeveloped, and Canty said he doesnt expect an overhaul of the books used. Its math that may need a more complete reworking, he said.
We may recommend a new mathematics program, Canty said. That would be an expensive endeavor because the school system would need to purchase new books, he said.
Canty and Middlebrook math teacher Nicole Strauss discussed how mathematics is to be taught.
Its evaluating where we are," Canty said. "And we will have to supplement our existing programs by aligning our classes with the common core."
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