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Harrisburg teachers pitch low‑cost online Spanish resource; board questions curriculum role and evidence
Summary
Teachers and curriculum staff presented Speaking Latino — an online Spanish teacher community and curriculum resource — emphasizing standards alignment, substitute‑ready lesson plans and a $5.99 per‑teacher annual membership; board members pressed on whether it would supplement or replace written curriculum and asked for pilot data and middle‑school implementation plans.
Anna Fender, a veteran Spanish teacher, and Dr. A. Champ, supervisor of electives and humanities, asked the Harrisburg City School District board on June 9 to consider Speaking Latino, an online Spanish teacher community and curriculum resource the district’s pilot committee selected.
Fender described the platform as a teacher resource with “fully developed lesson plans, substitute lesson plans, pacing guides, student surveys,” and materials spanning exploratory Spanish through AP. She contrasted current costs — the presentation said district textbooks run about $125 per student and $12,500 per level — with Speaking Latino’s advertised $5.99 annual teacher membership, and said the platform’s lessons are editable and immediately downloadable in formats such as Google Drive.
Board members pressed presenters on implementation, use for substitutes and for teachers who are not fluent in Spanish. Fender said many lesson files and support materials can be downloaded in English or Spanish and include step‑by‑step prompts and videos that a substitute or non‑Spanish‑speaking teacher could follow. “You can download them in English or you can download them in Spanish,” Fender said, adding that the lessons “will literally guide them on step by step what to do, even what to say.”
Miss Anderson asked whether the platform is strictly a supplemental teacher resource or a full curriculum. Fender responded that the platform “can be both,” but presenters emphasized the district already has a written curriculum and said Speaking Latino would most immediately serve as a teacher‑support tool.
Board members also asked for evidence the platform improves long‑term language retention. Fender cited small pilot data and the performance of students on the National Spanish Exam: “We tested 40 students … we earned gold, silver and honorable mention,” she said, and reported that a small class using the site showed about 25% growth on a reading baseline in one pilot cohort. She acknowledged the available data were limited and that larger evaluation would be needed to demonstrate district‑wide impact.
The administration said it will pilot the platform in an eighth‑grade offering at Camp Curtain and will bring a curriculum supplement proposal to the board; any formal adoption of curriculum would follow board policy. A board member and the superintendent also asked that administration return with clearer comparisons of existing curriculum, the pilot design, cost implications and a timeline for evaluation.
The presentation materials and teacher testimony will be part of the June 23 consent‑agenda packet if the administration pursues formal approval steps for procurement and pilot implementation.
