Fulton Middle School to switch up science curriculum

Parents express concerns over communication, district involvement

Since the start of the school year, Fulton School Board meetings have featured ongoing progress reports from the Fulton Middle School Improvement Team.

Those presentations typically have consisted of reports on student data, looking at how they are progressing in the three major Missouri Assement Program (MAP) testing areas: English/language arts, math and science.

Wednesday night's improvement report included something different from the science department. Science teacher Linda Baysinger said the increased focus on data analysis has led the science staff to conclude they need to restructure the science department.

Baysinger said currently sixth graders learn physical science, seventh graders learn life science and eighth graders learn earth science. Previously, all three grade levels got instruction in all three science areas.

She said the change to the current system was made because it provided more continuity between concepts and allowed the school to purchase fewer text books - before every science teacher had to have a full set of books for each subject area. Earth science was taught in eighth grade at the request of the high school science teachers because at the time students took the MAP test in tenth grade, which was heavy on earth science, and which is not taught at the high school.

Based on data analysis, Fulton Middle School science staff are proposing to change to teaching earth science in sixth grade, life science in seventh grade and physical science in eighth grade.

Baysinger said the reason behind that is that the MAP test is typically heavy on physical science and the high school no longer takes the MAP test in tenth grade. She said the switch to teaching earth science in sixth grade is because sixth grade students have trouble grasping some of the physical science because they are so unfamiliar to them, whereas they are familiar with topics covered in earth science - such as weather, rocks and earthquakes.

Also during Wednesday night's meeting, the board heard from two district parents.

Tammy Gillespie, who has four children - including a daughter in seventh grade - said she had two concerns. First, she addressed the middle school.

"I believe Fulton Middle School staff and students are in a very negative environment due to the perception that that if MAP scores don't improve in two years the state will take over," Gillespie said, also noting there is a perception that staff will be fired if scores don't go up this year.

Gillespie said teachers need more help improving their instruction and administrative support when it comes to discipline and handling classroom disruptions, which she said get brushed under the rug at the expense of other students.

She also expressed disapproval that her daughter was recently asked to fill out and sign a question form about the recent bomb threat at the middle school which prompted her to write down what she and her friends talked about in relation to the incident. Gillespie said parents should have been notified and asked for consent first.

Gillespie ended by stating her re-commitment to being more involved with the school and asking for 57 more volunteers to give 58 minutes to the middle school by the end of the school year.

Amanda Murdie also returned to speak to the school board.

She reiterated previous concerns regarding district communication and the lack of designated time for public comment during board meetings.

Murdie also brought up class sizes, teacher salaries - which she pointed out are 20 percent lower than the state average - and the superintendent's salary - which she said was $30,000 more than the state mean - ACT scores and the district's dropout rate.

"Students should be our main concern," Murdie said. "I want a district where we're not concerned about cutting corners for our children's education."

Murdie said she recently started a Facebook page, Parents for Fulton Schools, that has received a lot of support over the past week, proving that she is not alone in her concerns.

"Our children deserve more," she said. "Please don't ignore this community. We want positive change for our schools, and together we can achieve that."