District outlines K–12 science and math changes, flags tutoring funding questions

Regional School District 15 presented a K–12 curriculum update at its March 10 board meeting, detailing science and math instructional work, assessment development and professional development plans, and noting uncertainty about continuing a high‑dosage tutoring program without additional local matching funds.

The presentation was given by Dr. Chiapada, a district staff member responsible for curriculum updates, who outlined the district’s current and planned materials. He said the district continues to use OpenSciEd at the middle‑school level and is in its fourth year of implementation there, while elementary OpenSciEd content is not yet complete and the district is not planning districtwide elementary adoption for next year because some elementary units are still under development.

That middle‑school work has included development of unit assessments, scoring guides and interim assessments tied to NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards), Dr. Chiapada said. The district has also worked with Partners for Educational Leadership on using student data to shape instructional strategies.

On accessibility, Dr. Chiapada distinguished accommodations from modifications, saying, "Accommodations are things that we need for all students. It does not change the content." He reported collaboration with multilingual (ML) and special‑education staff to make curriculum and assessments more accessible and to create IEP‑aligned modifications where required.

In high school science, curriculum revisions started last summer and the district is moving revised courses into a standardized District curriculum template over multiple summers because of staffing constraints, Dr. Chiapada said. He noted an emphasis on aligning classroom tasks and assessments to NGSS scientific and engineering practices, particularly designing and conducting investigations and asking questions.

In mathematics, elementary teachers are implementing Illustrative Mathematics (Illustrative Math 360) as the primary Tier 1 resource. The district has paired that with building‑thinking‑classroom strategies to encourage student collaboration and multiple entry points to problems. The district also created family cover letters tied to major content clusters so caregivers can see the grade‑level mathematics their children are learning.

Coaching and professional development have been expanded: the district placed math coaches in each elementary building, instituted frequent building visits and weekly early‑morning professional learning sessions, and started vertical meetings between middle‑ and high‑school instructional leaders to smooth transitions between grades. Middle‑school teachers have visited one another’s classrooms using guiding questions; the district reported that all middle‑school math teachers have attended at least one building‑thinking‑classroom professional learning session.

Dr. Chiapada described math extracurricular supports and competitions: Region 15 hosted the Northwest chapter MathCounts competition in February with more than 60 student participants; students later advanced to the state competition at Yale.

The presentation also addressed a tutoring program the district piloted last year. Dr. Chiapada said the high‑dosage tutoring program served about 258 students last year and about 100 this year. He reported that continuing the program would require districts to match state funds; the district is exploring whether it can replicate the structure internally at a lower cost. "There are multiple vendors," he said, and the district is weighing whether to build internal capacity rather than pay vendor fees.

What it means: the district is working on vertical alignment across grade bands, expanding coaching and assessment tools tied to NGSS and the Common Core, and experimenting with strategies (coaching, high‑dosage tutoring and extracurricular math clubs) to improve outcomes. However, sustaining the larger tutoring model depends on future funding decisions and, if state funds require a local match, on the board’s budget choices.

Board follow‑up and next steps included planned summer curriculum writing to refine assessments and scoring guides, continued vertical collaboration between secondary and middle grades, additional professional development in building‑thinking‑classroom strategies, and review of the tutoring model’s costs and structure before any long‑term commitment.