How Cumberland schools keep winning National Blue Ribbons

Amy Parent, a teacher at Garvin Memorial Elementary School in Cumberland, engages her second graders in a discussion during a math lesson in her classroom. The school’s laser focus on reviewing and updating curriculum propelled it to earn national recognition. (Photo by Michelle Carter for Rhode Island Current)

Last September, Garvin Memorial Elementary school became the third school in Cumberland to receive a National Blue Ribbon from the U.S. Department of Education. Garvin is one of only 356 schools to earn this designation out of 115,171 U.S. schools. 

Garvin was commended for “Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing,” specifically big gains in math generally, and across student subgroups.

So what’s Cumberland’s secret sauce? 

Without missing a beat, Assistant Superintendent Antonio DiManna had this reply to my question: “We have a ‘hyper focus’ on curriculum. Across the elementary and middle schools, the district works together to hone common curricula in both English Language Arts and in math.” 

A curriculum is the what and how of a teacher’s daily life. In other words, what standard or skills are being addressed, and how to best present the materials and learning activities.

“The entire meal, so-to-speak, while the programs we follow are the ingredients,” DiManna said. “We nourish students’ learning journey.”

Many years ago, DiManna introduced a technique called “curriculum mapping” which he’d experienced as a teacher at a charter school. This mapping uses the teachers’ classroom experience of each lesson to assess and maybe transform a pre-existing or written curriculum – in this case, a second generation of Eureka math – into what DiManna calls a “living curriculum.” 

“We look at what has already been taught and analyze data – module assessments, benchmark assessments, and RICAS for grades 3 to 8 – to identify gaps or redundancies,” Curriculum Coordinator Kathleen Cardosa said. 

The curriculum is the road that gets kids to meet state standards. But it can’t be static. To be “alive,” teachers must be able to tweak, change, eliminate, massage or add whatever is not working in a curriculum. 

But mapping is only one step in a three-part process that uses the teachers’ brain trust to voice opinions, objections and suggestions. 

Step One: I dropped in on Amy Parente’s second grade math class. She’d chosen one of Eureka’s several fluency exercises — quick, warm up activities designed to reinforce basic math facts so kids can recall them automatically. In unison and enthusiastically, the kids count by fives up and down a scale of 100, adding or subtracting, depending on the direction Parente’s hand is sliding along the scale. 

They were learning about “equal.” Small groups of kids had to fold a piece of paper into two equal parts and prepare to explain their reasoning. Another problem asked how students would distribute three brownies to two children. Interestingly, most teams cut all three brownies in half instead of just one. That’s one way to get to a right answer, however inefficient, but lessons often allow for at least two ways of arriving at a solution. 

But what if Parente experienced a glitch while delivering that lesson? Maybe the kids got confused, or disengaged, or the lesson took too long? Who fixes that?

Step Two: Parente would take her issue to a weekly common planning time with her fellow grade-level teachers who had just finished the same lessons. Two things might happen:

• Parente’s colleagues had no issue themselves, so what might have gone sideways? What was different about their delivery or their choice of what activity to do? What might have worked better? How could they help?

That’s embedded professional development at its best – colleagues collaborating on being the best possible teachers. 

• But if they had all chafed at the same activity, what practical adjustment does the curriculum need? The problem can’t just be left to fester for a year only to deliver poor results again. 

Parente then gathers her colleagues’ concerns and drafts solutions for the curriculum coordinators of the weekly mapping session.

Step Three: The second-grade math representatives from all five Cumberland elementary schools gather to weed out obstacles they found. 

One recent week’s fluency module had way too much material and took too long. Parente had already limited the materials to use, but the curriculum itself needed a note advising teachers to do just that, to stay within the allotted time by choosing among the activities. 

Also, the cross-school data showed the lesson’s assessment had a two-part question whose second part went unanswered by the lowest level students. Among other ideas, the teachers agreed that giving an extra point or two to that second part would encourage all kids to keep going. 

Cardosa and a coordinator specializing in special-needs students listened, asked questions and took notes. They will find ways of adjusting the once-glitchy lesson so next year’s delivery gets more kids to proficiency. 

Even minor problems can prevent, slow, or ignore reasons why kids aren’t progressing as robustly as teachers know they can. It’s not the kids’ fault.

“Educators need to create a shared understanding of curriculum goals and instructional strategies,“ said Cardosa. The point is for everyone, literally, to be on the same well-refined page.

In class the following morning, Parente will pick up where she left off, making mental notes about how it’s going. And the improvement cycle will begin again. 

Mind you, teachers often complain that standardized curricula feel dictatorial, erasing their creativity and slighting their professionalism. 

But Parente says her creativity is in full force. “If I know of another activity that I think would work better, I do it,” she said. “I’ll add activities, extra practice, rearranged lessons, etc.” 

Too often, districts hand over a purchased curriculum with a lot of what but leave teachers with little help as to how to make it work with actual kids. 

Instead, Cumberland’s “lived curriculum” is sensitive and responsive to the teachers’ practical experience. It’s their academic north star. And it’s working.