Groups charge curriculum falls short in addressing diversity
by Beandrea Davis
As the District introduces the next phase of its standardized curriculum to classrooms this fall, it includes a number of new resources to support teachers in providing a more multicultural educational experience.
But some community groups are echoing concerns raised last year about the lack of multicultural inclusiveness in the effort to overhaul what is taught in Philadelphia classrooms. Many see the problem as a decades-long failure of the District to infuse African and African-American studies throughout the curriculum. Others say they are concerned about the status of the District's multicultural education policy, which was recently revised.
Central among the criticisms is a frustration that groups were left out of the process of writing the new standardized curriculum and asked primarily to be "community reviewers" of curricula created by the District and outside consultants.
This fall's expansion of the standardized curriculum includes new courses in 8th grade social studies and 7th and 8th grade science. The District also hired Kaplan Inc. to create curricula for high school English, math, social studies, and science.
Mary Lou Fischer, the District's director of curriculum support, said the instructional model for the K-8 curriculum in social studies and science "leaves it much more open for students to explore multiple perspectives."
Fischer said the curriculum "is giving a voice that really has been left out in the past."
But critics inside and outside the District interviewed by the Notebook expressed concern that the District's emphasis on multiculturalism was primarily within the context of social studies rather than a strong focus throughout the curriculum.
Not satisfied
"We're not satisfied in terms of infusing African history into the entire curriculum. That is not happening," said Jerome Avery, of the African and African Descent Curriculum and Instruction Reform Committee, a community-based organization of advocates for Afrocentric education.
At a September School Reform Commission meeting, Commissioner Sandra Dungee Glenn acknowledged continued concerns about a lack of African perspectives in the curriculum and said, "Our work is not done yet, but it is an issue that will be addressed."
Fran Kirschner, Philadelphia chapter president of the group Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), said she was "very disappointed" by a lack of inclusion of voices from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community in the high school textbooks. She expressed concern that the English literature text did not mention that writer James Baldwin was openly gay.
"There was literature that did involve someone's personal history, but when it came to the authors we knew to be gay, there was no reference at all," she said, noting that she would like to see the District provide supplemental materials to fill in the gaps left by the textbook.
ûast year, the District's new curriculum drew protests from several Latino organizations, saying that the new materials were not reflective of the cultural heritage of Philadelphia's Latino community, which is predominantly Puerto Rican and Dominican.
But Nancy Hopkins-Evans, the District's director of high school curriculum, said her office "made every effort to make the curriculum as inclusive as possible." She pointed out the District contracted with an independent consultant who was charged with ensuring inclusiveness in the curriculum.
"The curriculum is infused multiculturally," said Hopkins-Evans. "Anybody who looks at the materials can see that is what we did."
New resources
This fall students in grades K-8 will receive 45 minutes of instruction in social studies and science each day. Eighth grade teachers will receive new core curriculum guides for social studies as well as new textbooks. In science, seventh and eighth grade classrooms will receive new textbooks and laboratory kits.
In addition, the District has created new K-8 social studies "modules" that are aligned with teachers' planning and scheduling timelines. An African and African American history module - written by historian Edward Robinson - will be rolled out for grades K-5 later in the fall.
A module on Philadelphia community stories for grades 3-8 is also new this year, but won't be implemented until the second or third marking period. Fischer said the module features age-appropriate material on Philadelphia's diverse racial and ethnic communities written by local "community scholars" who submitted scholarly papers to the District's curriculum team.
The K-8 science curriculum includes "cultural perspectives" that connect today's scientific knowledge to contributions made by "cooperative efforts of all mankind," according to a final draft of the science curriculum guide.
In addition to "infusing" multiple perspectives throughout the entire new high school curriculum, say District officials, historian Molefi Asante, professor of African American studies at Temple University, was tapped to create African-centered history courses that will be offered as electives. The District plans to offer a full-year African history course as well as an African American history course at the high school level next year, with the course to be piloted at two high schools in the spring semester.
Hopkins-Evans said the need to align the courses with the format of the other high school social studies courses prevented the two new courses from starting up this fall. No decision has been made on whether these two classes will be mandatory or electives.
Community 'review' process
Several sources interviewed by the Notebook expressed frustration that the process for input into the core curriculum consisted primarily of community "review" of curricula and textbooks that had already been selected by District officials.
Hopkins-Evans said Kaplan and District officials met with community partners who expressed concerns about including multiple perspectives within the curriculum to hear their concerns. The officials ensured activists that supplemental resources, such as websites, have been included in the teacher curriculum guides.
But Avery said the District's process did not allow for groups to participate in writing the curriculum.
"Community involvement means involvement from the very beginning," he said.
Community activist Hannibal Casanova - one of six "community reviewers" asked by the District's curriculum team to review the K-8 social studies curriculum - submitted chapter-by-chapter suggestions on how to make the eighth grade social studies textbook Creating America more inclusive of African and African American history and culture.
"They were very receptive during the meeting. I've yet to see the product," noted Casanova, who expressed cautious optimism about whether or not the District's curriculum officials will incorporate his feedback into the new curriculum.
Fischer said the District's curriculum team paid close attention to the reviewers' feedback and made changes they felt were appropriate.
"Everyone has [his or her] own narrow lens," said Fischer. "We needed to be able to determine what the big picture looks like."
District officials and community representatives agree that professional development is key to making sure the new curricula are taught in a way that includes multiple perspectives.
Fischer said K-8 teachers received professional development on how to use the multicultural modules in their classrooms during the summer and said the District will offer Saturday trainings starting in October. High school training on the curriculum began last April and will continue through this year.
Ultimately, Kirschner said, groups have "to educate the educators" about making the curriculum inclusive of multiple cultural perspectives.
"We're trying to affirm that our children need to be recognized. It has to be part of the educational process," she said.