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Classroom relevance—that's the ultimate test of any SAS inSchool resource. Our annual education forums ensure that we respond to the real-world needs of students and teachers—not to predetermined notions about how education ought to work.
"On-staff teachers direct all of our development teams," says SAS inSchool's Deborah Gray, a curriculum specialist in science. "Our challenge is to maintain a vital link between the teachers who develop educational resources and the teachers who ultimately use those resources. Our forums provide that link. Master teachers and education professionals from across the country help us target those topics and approaches that will have the broadest impact in the classroom."
"The forums keep us honest," she adds.
As a consequence, they have now become part of SAS inSchool's annual planning process.
"Because much of the information we need is discipline-specific, we hold separate forums in mathematics, science, social studies, English, and Spanish," Gray says. "The 2004 forums will focus on professional development and draw on experiences from both providers and participants. The 2003 forums focused on educational topics and instructional challenges—and on ways that our Curriculum Pathways might best meet those challenges."
Last November's Social Studies Forum, for example, provided the foundation for the civics and economics materials currently being developed. Teachers from across the country clarified the challenges they face in presenting these topics and made recommendations about how technology and innovative materials could best meet their needs. Our curriculum specialists are already acting on a recommendation that they develop an InterActivity that focuses on the North American Free Trade Agreement and the role of the U.S. in a global economy.
"The diversity of opinion is especially helpful," says Molly Farrow, curriculum specialist in social studies. "We heard from teachers in public and private schools. And we heard from schools in Texas, Maryland, Alabama, Iowa, Michigan … As a result, we feel confident that our case-study approach and our use of primary-source documents will increase students' understanding of important social studies issues."
Comments from the recent English Forum were equally helpful.
"Teachers emphasized that they want materials they can customize," says curriculum specialist Terry Hardison. "That's exactly what we're working to provide. We don't make prescriptive materials or take a one-size-fits-all approach. We make materials that teachers can adapt to their individual teaching styles and to the specific needs of their students."
"Knowing that educators want—and need—standards-based materials has been helpful as well," Hardison says. "As a consequence, we've mapped all the topics in Curriculum Pathways to specific state and national standards. Teachers can thus plan more efficiently and ensure that they cover all the required course material."
"It's always rewarding," Hardison says, "to hear the enthusiasm that educators express when we deliver—or surpass—the kind of product features they've told us they want."
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