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Laredo ISD updates CARES curriculum writing; staff propose more time, checkpoints and teacher planning windows
Summary
District leaders reviewed CARES curriculum-writing work and recommended more paid hours/checkpoints, digital resource integration and in‑day planning time so teachers can tailor curriculum to student needs.
Laredo ISD staff presented updates on the CARES curriculum-writing effort at the Curriculum & Instruction Committee meeting on Sept. 3, describing completed drafts, next steps and requests for additional paid hours for teacher writers.
Why this matters: Teachers use the CARES curriculum (Curriculum, Alignment, Resources for Educational Support) as the district's primary locally written curriculum. Staff said more planning time and clearer data at the outset improve the quality and utility of those materials.
What staff told the committee: Presenters said elementary, middle and high school teams completed baseline CARES modules during summer curriculum work. Staff reported 22 paid summer hours were provided to writers this year but said many campus leaders and deans asked for more time and higher compensation to produce assessment‑integrated, classroom‑ready units. Staff described several concrete changes:
- Build assessment integration into CARES so each unit specifies what will be assessed and when. - Optimize and include digital resources (bell ringers, exit tickets, slides, interactive activities) and provide teachers with a resource folder linked to CARES units. - Add periodic "checkpoints" during the year so teachers can review and tailor CARES to their students' needs. - Prioritize providing teachers with data before curriculum writing starts.
Miss Mendoza and Mr. Cerda reported that middle‑ and high‑school teams included district TIA (teacher incentive/advanced) teachers and department leads; Mendoza said the summer team's goal was to lay the groundwork that campus teachers could fine‑tune. Staff said checkpoints will give teachers time during the school day — not exclusively after school — to revise CARES for their specific classrooms.
Trustees asked whether writers need more paid hours; staff acknowledged additional time would improve outputs and said they would return with recommendations and a proposed number of hours and funding sources. No formal board action was taken at the committee meeting.
Trustees also emphasized the need for curriculum materials to support writing instruction and college/career readiness for secondary students; a trustee suggested linking CARES work to student‑facing tasks such as scholarship and personal‑statement writing.
