The fifth graders at Anson Jones Elementary flipped to Chapter 4 and read about the beliefs of the Mayan people, searching for vocabulary words such as “sacred” and “nurture.”
Teacher Adrienne Martinez walked around the classroom holding a thick-bound book — her guide on how the lesson should progress and what comes next. She had lined the pages with Post-it notes.
The lesson was organized. Students took an allotted five minutes for “word work.” They zeroed in on one vocabulary word — nurture — and said it aloud together. Then they went over the definition. Next, the students offered examples of things in their own lives that must be nurtured to flourish. The whole lesson was outlined.
Across Dallas ISD, all fifth graders were expected to be looking at those same activity books and lessons recently. They are a key component of a new districtwide curriculum — called Amplify — rolled out this year that aims to ensure students get engaging lessons that are on grade level and aligned with state standards.
Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said that prior to DISD bringing language arts classes together under one curriculum, the quality of the lessons students received varied across DISD. Teachers used different materials and moved at different paces, which was particularly a challenge for children who switched schools midyear.
The consistency provided by Amplify is intended to ensure that all students — not just some — have access to high-quality learning materials, she said.
Teachers, however, have mixed feelings on the new approach, with some concerned that the lessons move too quickly, which can be difficult for students who fall behind, said Rena Honea, president of the Alliance-AFT teachers union in Dallas.
Martinez, a veteran educator, said she can use the lessons as a foundation and then add to it. Her school was one of the campuses that piloted Amplify ahead of the districtwide implementation.
“Once you’ve done it for a year, it becomes easier,” she said. “You can start more of your own touch on it.”
The district spent about $14 million to implement Amplify, officials said.
Schools across Texas use a wide variety of learning materials, which triggered concerns about quality among lawmakers. They worried that many lessons don’t meet state standards, which means students could be leaving school inadequately prepared for college and the workforce.
Guided by a new law, state education officials are now developing rubrics to define what “high quality instructional materials” look like. The law will provide extra state aid if schools use the approved learning materials.
Under DISD’s approach with Amplify, students are talking to each other in class, paired for small-group instruction or doing learning activities — not passively filling out worksheets, Elizalde said.
While she wants a level of uniformity for students, she said she doesn’t want teachers to be robots.
Amplify was chosen in part because of the way it spiraled in other topic areas. For example, in a fourth grade class, the students will be working on their reading skills but the topic of their passage may be plate tectonics — aligning with science standards.
Meanwhile, DISD has a high intradistrict mobility rate. Already students who leave their campus midyear must deal with new teachers, new friends and a new home. Allowing them to learn from the same lesson plans lowers a hurdle, Elizalde said.
That’s been the case in Martinez’s class. One of her students transferred from another DISD school after the year began. The child was able to get caught up quickly because the activity books and materials were all the same, Martinez said.
Elizalde said the districtwide curriculum should make teachers’ lives easier, too. Too often, she said, educators would spend their off-time Googling around to create their own lesson plans and teaching materials.
“We want to simplify that because teachers need to be able to focus on what they really want to do, which is deliver and engage students in the lesson,” Elizalde said.
But some educators are struggling with the new rollout, Honea said. Much of the frustration is around the pacing of the lessons, she said.
“There are timelines that they’re supposed to be adhering to,” Honea said. “It’s a whole new way of teaching. … Some kids are struggling and not understanding. They have to tell them, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll go back and pick up.’”
Alliance-AFT plans to do a survey soon to get feedback from a wider range of educators.
Elizalde said the intent is not for Amplify to become the Stepford wives of curriculum with everyone on the same page at the same time, but to serve as a guide to keep classes on track. There are pauses and assessments built into the curriculum to adjust for students’ needs, DISD officials said.
“But by the end of the nine weeks, all of the lessons in these units need to have been completed so that we are assured that we are at least maintaining the pace,” she said.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
