The Edmonds School Board March 7 had its first reading of the proposed biology material adoption and held recognition ceremonies.

Executive Director of Student Learning Lisa Gonzalez, K-12 science teacher of special assignment (TOSA) Jennifer Hageman and Edmonds-Woodway High School Science teacher Becky Heckinger presented information on the new biology materials and answered the board’s questions.

During the presentation, Hageman said that over the last five years, biology teachers and students have undergone an extensive process to evaluate and select material for high school-level biology classes.

It has been 20 years since the Edmonds School District last approved biology materials. The next generation of science standards created and adopted in 2013 have shifted from inquiry-based science instruction to phenomenon-driven teaching and learning. 

These standards also shifted the focus of instruction to critical thinking, which involves learning about a topic and figuring out why and how it occurs. 

Hageman said the district plans to update the curriculum materials across all grade levels and content areas over the next eight years. The timeline for the adoption started in the 2018-19 school year with assessing the curriculum’s needs, followed in the next school year with launching the initial pilot program and researching the Open Education Resource (OER) resources to identify materials.

The feedback received from Washington State assessment data, Edmonds School Board strategic plan policy, and community, staff and students showed five key themes:

– All students must have the resources to access and engage in learning, and the materials should include differentiated-level readings and translated or translatable texts.  

– The scientific phenomena and content should be  relevant and engaging, as well as culturally relevant.

– The material should be designed around localized science phenomena. 

– Students should be able to engage in the real work of science through hands-on labs while engaging in critical thinking.

– Teachers should have access to ongoing, job-embedded professional development. 

The process was paused for two years due to COVID-19 but it resumed in 2023, with over 15 teachers and 1,200 students providing their input on the materials.

The teachers selected for the  pilot compared Open Education Resources  materials combined with National Geographic biology material versus those same OER materials with Miller and Levine biology curriculum.

Hageman explained that the timeline began in May 2023 with a formative pilot to evaluate the level of support the staff would need to implement the full pilot. The teachers’ pilot program separated the wheat from the chaff, as some of the materials were found by teachers to be more looks than substance.

Edmonds-Woodway High School science teacher Becky Heckinger said that “the Nat-Geo (National Geographic)  book was beautiful and looked fabulous. Each section was written by a scientist doing active research, so it looked like this magical thing.” 

However, Heckinger said that in the classroom, as a supplemental text providing students background information on a concept, “it (National Geographic) didn’t really didn’t have the meat there.”

In comparison, the Miller Levine book had all the content needed as a supplemental resource but had support features that adjust to the reader’s level.

“One of my learning-support [students], who has a first-grade reading level, said that he loved the Miller Levine book the most,” Heckinger said.

She added that the student’s reading levels increased because, in part, of the additional information-rich support embedded in the book.

One strength of the National Geographic text was that students could directly modify the lecture style level in both English and Spanish. This ability to differentiate and level the readings was a priority in the needs assessment process. 

However, Miller Levine’s advantage was found in its translation accessibility. This text is translated into over 200 languages, including the top 12 spoken languages in the Edmonds School District and languages not traditionally found in web-based translation, such as Google Translate.

The e-book version also features translated audio in which native speakers read the text to speech and read-aloud audio. 

“The last piece is that the benefit of the OER materials is that they are genuinely customizable for the teacher,” Hageman said. “So, while all the materials are also found in Spanish, their copyright-free nature allows us to translate digital and print materials for distribution in our classrooms.”

The Materials Review Committee reached a 100% consensus with all five school site representatives to recommend adopting the Open Educational Resources as core instructional materials and using the Miller Levine biology textbook and digital materials as supplemental materials for all high school biology classrooms in the district.

Hageman said the total budget for the high school biology adoption had been earmarked at the beginning of the process at $313,000. 

A total of $123,000 will be allocated to the Miller Levine supplemental materials, which includes a class set of physical textbooks, digital licenses for the teacher and all students, companion workbooks and reading guides, as well as professional development from the publisher on how to access, use and integrate materials on the district’s Canvas platform. 

An additional $8,000 is earmarked for teacher leaders to provide input on best integrating OER materials into Canvas modules, potentially using a Canvas course template or “cartridge course” for teachers to use and modify.

Approximately $50,000 is designated for professional development over three years. Each session in the three-year plan will focus on a specific unit, set of standards, and potential points to integrate laboratory sessions or hands-on activities.  

Multilingual education teachers and student learning content leads intend to co-plan and facilitate specific sessions within the implementation plan to help teachers to learn how to better support multilingual students with reading comprehension, academic vocabulary acquisition and use of translation tools. 

Hageman said $30,000 of the overall budget had been allocated to instructional materials associated with OER, which include a variety of print-type materials such as teacher manuals, large-scale maps, manipulatives for hands-on activities, vocabulary resources such as word walls and visual glossaries, and laboratory consumables. 

The directors agreed to move the new curriculum forward for approval at the March 26 board meeting. 

The March 7 meeting also marked the Winter Sports Recognition for 2023-2024, with Edmonds School District Athletic Director Angie McGuire recognizing outstanding winter athletes from each high school.

Edmonds-Woodway High School:

Wrestling: Grace Fitting, Hannah Baldock, Ever Yamada

Lynnwood High School:

Girls Basketball: Aniya Hooker, Kayla Lorenz

Boys Swimming: Alex Lee 

Meadowdale High School:

Girls Basketball: Gia Powell 

Wrestling: Maddox Millikan

Mountlake Terrace High School:

Girls Basketball: Jordyn Stokes 

Boys Basketball: Rayshaun Connor, Joe Asalifew, Jaxon Dubiel, Logan Tews, Brody Myers-Little, Chance Chalmers, Gabe Towne, Svayjeet Singh, Zaveon Jones, Don Brown, Jack Gripentrog.

Human Resources Director Mark Roschy recognized the district’s 2024 All Edmonds Educational Support Team. This team is made up of outstanding educational support professionals who were nominated for this award at the building level.

Employees being recognized are:

Tribecca Brazil – College and career advisor, Mountlake Terrace High School

Monique Burlin – Office manager, Spruce Elementary

Lesley Gilfert-Ceja – School bus driver

Kathryn Griffin – Registrar, Edmonds Heights K-12

Karen Halliday – Office manager, College Place Middle School

Bryan Hasstedt – Paraeducator, Mountlake Terrace Elementary

Tim Horton – HVAC technician

Mike Jones – Paraeducator, Brier Terrace Middle School

Keith Kochendorfer – Paraeducator, Lynnwood High School

Mike Iiams – Custodian, Nominated from Edmonds Elementary School

Crystal Litts – Student intervention coordinator, Martha Lake Elementary

Jessica McCrocklin – Food service worker, Madrona K8

Grace Ngethe – Paraeducator, Brier Elementary

Claudia Ramirez – Food service worker, Mountlake Terrace High School

Kenn Rich – School bus driver

Teresa Smith – Paraeducator, Lynndale Elementary

Chi-An Yeh – Custodian, Alderwood Middle School

In other business, the school boards accepted Superintendent Rebecca Miner’s offer to reduce her compensation for the 2024-2025 contract year.

This agreement only applies to the 2024-2025 school year. It will reduce her contracted amount by $25,000 with 12 unpaid furlough days and eliminate 1.09% of her inflationary salary adjustment.

The consent agenda for March 7 approved one field trip. Edmonds-Woodway High School students will compete in the Knowledge Bowl 2024 State Competition at Wenatchee High School.

The next school board meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, at the Educational Services Center, 20420 68th Ave. W., Lynnwood. 

You can watch the meeting online by clicking here.

— By Rick Sinnett