Finley Curriculum Audit Gets Underway
An external audit of the curriculum at J. Taylor Finley Middle School is underway after a phone conference with Dr. Doug Harris, co-director of the Center for Curriculum Renewal. Last month, Huntington School Board members approved a $58,725 contract with CCR to conduct the audit.
The New York State Education Department requires such an audit for a school identified as in "Corrective Action (Year 1) Focused," according to Dr. Kenneth A. Card, Jr., assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
The recent phone conference included John Amato (Finley principal), Joe Leavy (district director of humanities), Linda Roth (special education chairperson), Carmen Kasper (district of foreign language, ESL and bilingual programs), Dr. Joseph Giani (assistant superintendent for personnel and general administration) and Dr. Card. The call centered on the timeline and process for the curriculum audit, which began on Monday, March 21.
Dr. Harris and members of his team will be in the district on March 21-22, April 7 and May 23-24. The group's document review will include:
• Policies related to academics, English language arts, special education, English language learners, diversity and other aspects of curriculum, instruction and assessment;
• Curriculum documents – scope, sequence, course guides, etc;
• Samples of lesson plans;
• Samples of IEPs, 504 plans and other academic plans;
• Samples of basals, textbooks and/or other core curriculum materials;
• Student performance data.
"Each member of our district team has been assigned the responsibility of securing the documents that will be reviewed for the external school curriculum audit," Dr. Card said. "In addition to the document review, Dr. Harris and his team will also conduct 10-15 minute classroom visits." Mr. Amato has informed teachers about the visits and their purpose.
CCR will interview teachers and administrators, including Dr. Card, Ms. Kasper, Mr. Amato, Mr. Leavy and Finley Assistant Principal Kenneth Parham.
"Between the March and April visits, telephone interviews will be conducted between members of Dr. Harris's team and teachers," Dr. Card said. "Upon their return in May, they will meet with select focus groups on the first day. The second day will be devoted to analysis and synthesis of the data and information and to identify themes and recommendations for the audit report."