Board approves $15,000 contract for Dr. Jerry Thompson to support grades 6–8 reading and text‑dependent analysis

The Quakertown Community School District board voted to authorize a $15,000 consulting contract with Dr. Jerry Thompson to support curriculum development for grades six through eight and to embed text‑dependent analysis (TDA) skills across middle‑school reading classes.

Why it matters: District administrators said students have shown weaker performance on deeper analytic reading questions and that TDA coaching and curricular support are intended to strengthen skills that transfer across subjects. The consultant, according to administration, has prior experience writing the TDA items used for statewide assessments.

Discussion: Doctor Freeman and members of the education committee described immediate classroom uptake of TDA strategies after earlier professional learning sessions and said Dr. Thompson has already worked with elementary teachers. Doctor Freeman said the contract will fund consultation to improve the district’s middle‑school reading curriculum and to provide teachers with practices they can implement in class. He told the board the curriculum work will be placed in the district’s publicly available Atlas curriculum repository and that any recommended instructional resources would be brought to the board for formal review and approval.

Board members asked for clarity on scope. Mister Reimers asked why a consultant was necessary and why only grades 6–8 were included; administration replied that Dr. Thompson’s work will both help build teacher skills and supply curriculum support where the district has identified need in the middle grades. Doctor Freeman said the work is consultative and will not bypass the district’s curriculum review process.

Vote and outcome: The motion to approve the consulting agreement (agenda item 7.b) passed by voice vote.