* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Young
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Informational Hearing - BCPSS Studio Course Curriculum Concerns
FOR the purpose of requesting that the Chief Executive Officer of the Baltimore City Public School System brief the Council on current and future public school curriculum, detailing the options for change, ways of implementing such options, and the current implementation of the "Studio Course" curriculum in the Baltimore City Public School System.
Body
Recitals
Recently, the Baltimore City Public School System adopted a new program called Studio Course. This new curriculum, which cost the City approximately $2 million, uses teen magazines and other aids to help kids learn to enjoy writing rather than to write correctly, by shifting focus from the technicalities of writing to the enjoyment of it.
According to media reports, there has been very little research done into the efficiency of the Studio Course program, which has only been implemented in one other city, where middle schools had seen reading and writing scores drop considerably in recent years.
The idea that BCPSS would feel the need to implement a change in the school program without first doing a large amount of research and making sure that there is time to properly train teachers prior to implementation is disturbing. According to media reports, school system officials say that the Studio curriculum is based on the latest reading theory and insist that the change is necessary and is being implemented in a timely fashion. This new curriculum is being used in all 21 Baltimore City middle schools, where more than 60% of pupils failed the State reading test last year.
Another issue with implementing a new program at this juncture is the cost. According to the Baltimore City Public School System, the school system must pay $525,000 to Studio Learning Inc., for materials and teacher training. After this, an additional $930,300 must be paid to the local Fund for Educational Excellence to send developers to work with teachers at 13 of the middle schools implementing the program. All 24 schools are individually responsible for paying $5000 per language arts classroom for necessary books and an undetermined amount to purchase subscriptions to at least 5 magazines for every child in language art classes.
The questions that need to be answered are whether implementing a new program like the one proposed is worth the costs for our students. Will this program help increase the level of learning in our children's classrooms or are we dealing with a program that has not been proven to help raise test scores to the standard that our children deserve? Hopefully, by working together with BCPSS, we can implement a program that will benefit students, parents, and teachers and will help provide our children with the educational opportunities that they deserve.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body requests that the Chief Executive Officer of the Baltimore City Public School System brief the Council on current and future public school curriculum, detailing the options for change, ways of implementing such options, and the current implementation of the "Studio Course" curriculum in the Baltimore City Public School System.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the CEO of BCPSS, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the Council.
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