CKLA: Parents, Check Your Kids’ Work + Loker Parent Q&A: Tuesday (10/13) at 7 PM

Loker parents, the Parent Q&A is coming up this Tuesday (10/13) 7PM. This is an opportunity to get our questions in about the elementary music pilot, curriculum decisions, and how parents should be included in our children's education. Questions must be submitted via a link in the school Scoop.

Here are questions worth asking:

• Music and parent input: Why weren't parents surveyed about music education before changes were made to the program?
• Literacy and transparency: What Loker specific school data and evidence informed the decision to change instructional time at Loker, and why were parents notified of the changes by email rather than consulted beforehand about the rationale, supporting data, and potential impact on students?
• Curriculum decisions: How are parents being included in decisions about what students learn and how instructional time is allocated? If parents are not being meaningfully included in these discussions, why not?
• CKLA and teacher autonomy: How much flexibility do teachers have to adapt the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum to their individual students' needs, supplement lessons, or replace materials that are inaccurate or inappropriate?
• Instructional quality: How will the district measure whether the curriculum is improving student learning, rather than simply increasing the amount of material covered and pushing students through more curriculum?
• Accountability: What happens if the pilot does not demonstrate meaningful educational benefits for students? Will the district restore the previous music program?

A note about the upcoming Loker Q&A: Although the Parent Q&A provides an opportunity to raise concerns, requiring parents to submit questions in advance limits opportunity for spontaneous discussion, follow-up questions, and meaningful dialogue. Parents should be able to ask questions that arise from the administration's responses, not simply submit questions ahead of time and hope they are addressed. It is also concerning that no virtual participation option has been offered. For METCO families who live outside Wayland, attending an in-person evening meeting may be more difficult. Parent engagement should include the families whose children attend Loker, regardless of where they live. If the district is committed to meaningful family engagement, it should consider ways to make these discussions accessible and interactive for all families, including a virtual option.

WPS Elementary Parents: Take a Closer Look at CKLA

Check your children's worksheets and assignments, and take time to understand the curriculum being used in their classrooms. Recently, Loker fifth graders brought home a worksheet stating that mixing green and yellow paint makes blue. The worksheet also appeared more appropriate for students in first or second grade, raising questions about the age-appropriateness, accuracy, and academic rigor of the pre-packaged curriculum materials being used.

The administration sought more instructional time for CKLA/Caminos, which was then allocated to science and history, but more time devoted to a curriculum does not automatically mean better instruction or academic results. Parents should be asking how teachers can respond to individual learning needs when working within a structured, prepackaged curriculum and how parents can have a meaningful voice in these decisions.

Please attend the Q&A, ask questions, and make your voice heard. Our children deserve accurate, engaging, appropriately challenging instruction, meaningful access to music education, and a school system that takes parent concerns seriously.