Curriculum

[Madeline]

Hey, can someone point me in the right direction on how to find out what curriculum the school is teaching the kids? I'd appreciate it.

[Zach Z]

Great question @Madeline. Unfortunately, the answer is not so strait forward. Technically, the curriculum is available for anyone to view. When it comes to sexual education, the district graciously hosts family nights aimed at showcasing what will be taught. For other subjects, your best bet is to request curriculum information from your child's teacher or principal. Because you have the ability to do this, you will often hear dissenting statements such as, "the curriculum is already transparent" when people advocate for curriculum transparency. While this statement may be true in reviewing the generalized structure of a curriculum design, there is essentially little transparency of HOW the curriculum is executed by each induvial teacher.

Teachers are contractually granted what is called "Academic Freedom". You can view this subject in the Tahoma teachers union contract. Academic freedom essentially allows teachers the freedom to execute the curriculum how they see fit. If you have an ideological driven teacher who subscribes to the Paublo Freire way of doing things, then they are free to structure their lessons accordingly. Obviously, there are limits, but your limits may be tighter than the district's limits. How a teacher is executing the curriculum is the hard part for parents to research. Often times, parents aren't made aware of questionable teachings until AFTER they have happened (as a few Tahoma Parents articles have pointed out).

A recent initiative was going around that would require teachers to post their lesson plans, but I do not believe it had enough signatures to go to a vote sadly.

Your best bet, besides obtaining the curriculum you may be concerned with, is to monitor your child's Google classroom. This is usually where parents catch wind of odd things. Also educate your kids on what is appropriate and communicate with them so that they alert you to any questionable lessons. Most teachers in the district are professional and do not inject personal agendas into their lessons, but there are certainly a few that do so it's always good to stay involved!

[Madeline]

I really appreciate your thorough response. It really is too bad it wasn't voted on- transparency makes it easy for everyone involved. I don't know what Google classroom is- I have my work ahead of me. Thank you so much for explaining and pointing me to the right direction. 

[Justin B]

@Madeline if your kids are young they may not have google classroom yet. They’ll start using it more when they get older. 

[Ric Lewis]

@Madeline

The bulk of our curriculum is determined by state guidelines which are set here:  https://ospi.k12.wa.us/student-success/learning-standards-instructional-materials

You can find many of our district-specific guidelines and programs here:  https://www.tahomasd.us/departments/teaching___learning

As always, if you're curious about a specific classroom or teacher's implementation, asking the teacher (or the principal if you have reason to mistrust the teacher), is your best bet.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Ric Lewis
Tagging question owner.