Though only six months into his tenure as interim superintendent of Mingus Union High School District, Eric Harmon is thinking seriously about the future of his students, teachers and staff.
“The school’s great, the teachers are great and the kids are great,” Harmon said, but offered an unambiguous critique of the way K-8 and high schools interact with each other in non-unified school districts throughout the Verde Valley and Sedona. “There’s no articulation for K-12 schools in the Verde Valley, as far as I can tell.”
By this, Harmon means that schools are not aligned with one another’s curriculum. Teachers, even within the same school, might be teaching a class differently, forcing students to adapt to each new teacher they encounter, leaving gaps in knowledge and making it difficult to meet state standards.
Harmon said he sympathizes with teachers, who often feel pressured to teach for a “moving target” as state standards change regularly. Convincing teachers to invest so strongly in a curriculum is difficult when demands on their skills may be different the following year.
As a result, knowing that Mingus Union High School will either need to reevaluate its curriculum or adopt one with proven effectiveness, Harmon is seeking solutions outside of the traditional range by looking into partnering with Vail Unified School District.
VUSD, a K-12 district southeast of Tucson, is home to approximately 12,000 students and 19 A-rated schools, all of which use the district-designed digital curriculum-wiki Beyond Textbooks. Teachers contribute to the ever-evolving resource, the use of which the district offers to other districts for a nominal fee — approximately $10 per student, according to Harmon. Approximately 100 districts in the state have begun using Beyond Textbooks.
“They’ve basically established their own company,” Harmon said. “You get access to all the work they’ve done, as a partner …. It kind of provides this laser focus.”
The Beyond Textbook team is scheduled to present its curriculum to teachers and administrators on Friday, Feb. 17, but Harmon stressed that the decision to encourage district adoption of the plan is well researched. Over the last few months, Harmon has examined school districts similar to MUHS. Of the 10 he contacted due to their academic success, Beyond Textbooks a common theme.
“All but one was a Beyond Textbooks partner,” Harmon said, adding that the ultimate decision would be based on teacher input and the approval of the MUHSD Governing Board. Harmon said that he hopes the teachers will embrace the possibilities to improve instruction presented by Beyond Textbooks, but he would not recommend a change without support from his teachers.
After all, Harmon is no stranger to implementation of Beyond Textbooks. While principal at Blue Ridge High School in Lakeside. Harmon said he helped bring the curriculum to his school but faced a lot of resistance due to the speed at which Beyond Textbooks was adopted. According to Harmon, the district-adopted wholesale change occurred too quickly, leaving teachers struggling to acclimate.
Other changes might be on the way, Harmon added. MUHSD’s online instruction program, Backbone Communication’s A+, assists students with additional instruction as well as credit recovery. Though owned by the district through licensing, Harmon said that A+ is outdated and easily manipulated by high school students, making it a simple task to complete assignments and even encouraging them to seek online instruction in lieu of class time.
“Lots of parents are unhappy with it,” Harmon said.
As a result of his evaluation, Harmon said that he will be recommending the purchase of a program by Mesa Distance Learning, a nonprofit that provides its own proprietary online curriculum. According to Harmon, it has been widely praised for its academic rigor, which includes the requirement that all final tests are taken before an instructor.
“They did it first. They did it best,” Harmon said of Mesa Distance Learning, whose representatives have already presented to the district.
On a lighter note, Harmon — who for decades defined himself as a national champion freestyle wrestler and then as a wrestling coach — said that he has managed to stay away from MUHS’ wrestling program for fear of getting too involved.
“I’ve been in the room a few times,” Harmon said, laughing as he recounted how he pulled a hamstring while instructing a student on proper technique. “After that, I figured I’d stay out.”
