And the light shone through

Efficacy in education means the ability of a product to produce the desired results. Recently, the McGraw-Hill publishers of the proposed West Bonner County School District curriculum were asked what the efficacy of their program was. They slyly said they hadn’t brought that information. Someone in the audience said they found it on their smartphone.

McGraw-Hill continued to say they didn’t have information on it and the informer was ignored, but it was sent to the school board. It read, “Overall there appears to be little or no research evidence that the Wonders program improves education outcomes, by a statistically meaningful amount.” 1 Thus, the light shone through.

When McGraw-Hill was asked about all of the StudySync computer usage, for reading, questioning, and answering, they replied the teacher always has the choice to use paper and pencil. Yet the student novels are all on-line. And again someone in the audience, found on their smartphone that the publishers were making billions on their digital curriculum that required internet technology. The light shone through again.

It was asked if the social emotional learning in the curriculum could be sidestepped. Sure, said the publishers, we will just tell the teachers to ignore that part. But, their website states, “Focuses on social emotional learning and student empowerment with texts that model social justice and how students can impact their communities.” 2 One wonders what would happen if a new teacher three years down the road, was using this program, and didn’t know about this verbal agreement. Perhaps that is just another reason why the school board wisely voted down this curriculum. Once more, the light shone through.

Thank you, school board, for seeking and promoting educational excellence.

strong>MAUREEN PATERSON

Priest River

1 https://www.pedagogynongrata.com/wonders

2 https://www.mheducation.com/prek-12/program/microsites/MKTSP-BGA10M0/wonders.html