Superintendent outlines new instructional framework, says work aims to ‘norm best practices’ across Cheltenham schools

Superintendent Dr. Scribner told the Cheltenham School District Board that the district will implement a formal instructional framework this year intended to align curriculum, classroom practice and student supports across all schools. The plan, he said, includes high-quality instructional materials, instructional rounds and a focus on equity and collaboration.

The presentation matters because district leaders said the framework is intended to reduce variation across classrooms, accelerate student learning and provide a public-facing roadmap for families and teachers. Dr. Scribner said the framework is meant to be research-based and rolled out slowly to avoid “gotcha” evaluations of teachers.

Dr. Scribner summarized the framework’s structure as five “buckets”: leadership and vision; equity and engagement; systems and structures; capacity and collaboration; and climate, culture and trust. He said the district will use Charlotte Danielson’s evaluation clusters as one tool to “norm best practices” and will deploy instructional rounds on a quarterly schedule to surface examples of effective instruction.

“We are not coming after teachers,” Dr. Scribner said, describing the effort as a way to identify and scale strong classroom practices. He emphasized culturally responsive materials, saying students should “see themselves in some form or fashion, in our curriculum.” The superintendent said the district has purchased or will purchase materials identified as HQIM (high quality instructional materials) intended to meet the needs of students across the district.

Officials said the work builds on related initiatives already underway: a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) in its third year, universal screeners to establish student baselines, and a data portal the administration is using to track student indicators. Dr. Scribner said the district is in “year 5” of his tenure and that this will be the first sustained, concrete instructional framework in several years.

Board member Zachary Epps spoke in support of the plan and the timing, saying the district’s stakeholders — parents, students and staff — had a place in the process and that setting clear expectations would help the work take root.

District leaders said the framework will be posted as a public document and that central office staff will push out engagement efforts including PTO meetings, surveys and a Saturday workshop to solicit additional community input. Dr. Scribner invited any community member seeking more detail to email him for a deeper dive.

Implementation elements described by the superintendent included: quarterly instructional rounds K–12 to observe and document practices; norming lesson planning and PLC work across buildings; a professional development arc for teachers tied to the framework; and attention to social-emotional and culturally responsive practices. The superintendent tied some projects to measurable accountability — for example, expectations around small-group instruction at the elementary level and the use of the district’s universal screeners within MTSS.

Dr. Scribner acknowledged uneven historical performance on state assessments and said improvements will take time: “we know that as a district, we are nowhere near where we wanna be.” He called the framework part of a longer continuous-improvement cycle rather than a single-year fix.

Next steps described at the meeting include publishing the framework publicly, scheduling the instructional rounds for the year, continued development of high-quality instructional materials, and further outreach through school and district channels. Board members and administrators said they will return updates to committees and the full board as work proceeds.