Aligning the curriculum with Maryland common core standards as part of the Race to the Top initiative will mean significant changes to the English curriculum at the high school level.
Director of Curriculum Margaret Pfaff gave a presentation Wednesday to the Board of Education of Carroll County about the notable changes to the 2012-13 High School Program of Studies. The program is scheduled to come back to the board for approval at the Oct. 12 board meeting.
The school system is in its second year of planning to align its curriculum with the Maryland common core standards. The curriculum at all grade levels must be aligned by 2014 to the state assessments students will be taking, she said.
Among other changes being made, the English high school course sequence and graduation requirements will be significantly impacted.
The current English classes offered in high school, like English 1, global perspectives in literature and composition, British literature and multicultural literature and composition, to name a few, will be replaced with English courses based on grade level. Students will take English 9, 10, 11 or 12 to align with their school grade in either the basic, academic or honors level, according to Pfaff.
In eleventh grade, students will have the option to take English 11 or advanced placement English language and composition, and in twelfth grade, either English 12 or AP English literature and composition, she said.
"Much of the content and the reading selections that are in our current courses will be reorganized into those four specific courses," Pfaff said.
Changes to the high school level will cause changes to the middle school level.
"Since honors English 1 will no longer be a high school course, it's not likely that we'll be offering it at the middle school level for high school credit," Pfaff said.
She said there will be further discussion about the changes in the program of studies before any final decisions are made, so all options are considered and implications are addressed.
Board member Cynthia Foley expressed concern about how these changes will effect college admission for students and how the new courses compare to those offered at other county school systems in the state.
"We're probably one of the few counties that didn't have the English 9, 10, 11 and 12," Pfaff said. Because of this, colleges should be accustomed to seeing these courses on transcripts, she said.
Supervisor of English and World Languages Jan Jayman said literary canons, like British literature or American literature, will be taught where it's appropriate in the high school sequence of classes according to the skills and concepts that need to be taught.
"Some of the British literature taught in twelfth grade may be found in lower levels depending on the text complexity," she said.
Foley said it seems like the school system is going to generic-named courses instead of being specific about what is being offered, though she understands the system's hands are tied.
"It just seems like it's the wrong direction we're going in, to me," she said.
In response to a question from county commissioner Doug Howard, R-District 5, asking if the new curriculum will be better, Jayman said that the level of rigor has increased dramatically.
"A lot of text we included at later grades is now offered at lower grades," she said, which should help improve students' ability to comprehend complicated text.
She said one of the benefits to redesigning the English courses is that AP courses in the subject will be able to be offered at a lower grade level.
Pfaff said the new Maryland common core standards will affect all grade levels either directly or indirectly, but the school system is still given the ability to direct how information is taught and what materials are used.
"What we do with those standards is our choice," she said.
Reach staff writer Alisha George at 410-857-7876 or alisha.george@car rollcountytimes.com.
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