Unidentified speaker at Germantown meeting urges more challenge for high-achieving students

An unidentified speaker at a Germantown School District meeting said the district must do more to challenge its high-performing students so they "continue to show growth." The speaker said the issue had been discussed with teachers and centered on ensuring classroom work stretches students beyond average performance.

The speaker pointed to existing instructional materials, mentioning the district's use of the "Wonders" literacy program and referring to a math curriculum name that was unclear in the transcript. "Even though we have some really incredible curriculum... we are really tapping into the deeper, more kind of what we call, like, transfer of knowledge," the speaker said, arguing teachers should design tasks that require students to think harder about their work and apply learning in new contexts.

School leaders, the speaker said, want to avoid "middle of the road teaching and learning" and instead extend learning "throughout the rest of the year" so students continue to be challenged academically. The remarks were delivered as part of classroom- and curriculum-focused discussion; no formal motion or vote was recorded in the transcript.

The meeting record does not identify the speaker by name or title. The transcript also does not verify the exact name of the math curriculum the speaker referenced; that name is recorded in the transcript as spoken but not verified in meeting materials.