Use of text paused while under review, unit to continue
During their Sept. 23 meeting, the Buena Vista Board of Education discussed the recent controversy around a book assigned in a Buena Vista High School English Language Arts class, Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”
The social media storm began on Thursday, Sept. 19, when photo-copied pages of the text appeared on the Buena Vista Water Cooler and What’s Really Happening in Buena Vista pages on Facebook.
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie was being taught in a freshman and sophomore English Language Arts class. Use of the book has since been paused and a writing-focused curriculum has been implemented.
Superintendent Lisa Yates said she had been communicating with both the board and the families of students impacted and all 6th- to 12th-grade families about the book.
“Since, for me, this controversy had started on social media, that was how I was made aware of it,” she said, “I assumed that those people who were on social media also heard, and even if their student wasn’t involved in the class, we thought it was important that they knew what was happening in that classroom and what was happening for the district.”
The district has paused work with the book to “course correct” their procedures for book approvals.
“This is not about stopping the reading of the book because of the content,” she said. “The concern that was raised was about a passage in the book. But the district’s reason for pausing is because we need to course correct on the procedures that were used for the book to come into the classroom.”
The teachers using the text, Yates said, believed the book was already approved. The teachers had also discussed the sensitive passage, spanning about three-quarters of a page in which the 14-year-old narrator discusses masturbation, with their students ahead of reading. However, Yates said, the district “missed in notifying the families” so they could be aware students were reading that sensitive material.
“As I said to the teachers, as I said to you all over and over again, ultimately it’s my responsibility to ensure materials are approved through this program evaluation process,” Yates said. “It’s a failure on my part that the procedure was not implemented fully.”
Yates and district administration became aware “Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” was being used when parents reached out to her and Buena Vista High School principal Liz Barnaby after seeing the social media posts. Their first action was notifying families with students in those classes that there was a passage found to be sensitive and that they couldn’t, at that moment, find a record of approval of that text.
“Our reason for having to act so quickly was because the district was made aware through social media and we didn’t have control over communication and how we would be able to interact with families,” Yates said. “We were acting very quickly to make sure we could give information to the families that were involved.”
The next step was notifying all 6th- to 12th-grade families due to the number of concerns related to other material in the book and what was being discussed on social media.
“We wanted them to have information about what we were doing and what was in the book that was sensitive,” she said.
Next, they considered steps for further use of the book in the unit. Because the book was not recorded as approved and there were additional sensitive passages that had not been discussed, “continuing was not an option” and the district moved to course correct.
“We were notifying families, and that also meant we wanted to be available to speak with families,” Yates said. “While a flurry of information was out on social media, we internally were trying to have these one-on-ones, either emails or conversations, with families, so (there was) not a lot of time for us to respond.”
They also explored possible alternative texts for some or all of the students used in other units, but Yates said they did not feel they could be reviewed in the time available.
“In that amount of time, we felt like we could be positioning ourselves and not using the procedure that we have in place,” she said. “It was not a sensible or wise solution.”
The ELA teacher involved had planned four writing outcomes with the unit, with the main project being for students to write their own personal narratives. Yates said they found the integrity of the assignment and learning outcomes could be kept whole by focusing on those writing outcomes.
“We notified families in the class that this pause in the text would occur so that we could course correct and we would not be doing any further reading on the assignment and that writing would then be the focus,” she said. “The families who would like for their child to continue reading the book are welcome and able to do so, it just won’t be part of the unit outcomes for the assessment. And again, the unit assessment hasn’t changed. The unit assessment is a personal narrative, and the students will still be involved in doing that. And so the outcomes that we need for the essentials, will still be full.”
Yates reiterated that the teachers believed the book had been previously approved and planned their lessons with that understanding, previewing the passage with students due to possible discomfort. The book had also been previously used with a small group of students.
“The teacher recognized it was sensitive material and is now aware that parent notification is needed,” Yates said. “I thought that was clear for our teachers. I haven’t written that anywhere or made sure enough it was part of our process, so I’ll again say that both the approval process and communication with families lie with me.”
Yates also reviewed the 2020-21 ELA program evaluation briefly with the board.
“The board’s role is to approve the materials that are recommended through program evaluation,” she said. “Sixth-12th literature sets purchased throughout the five-year cycle in place of anthologies, with the review process to include the supervisor and superintendent (was approved). … The board, in approving those materials, is when you said yes to making material requests.”
She also touched on district policy KEC, Public Concerns regarding instructional materials and the challenge form available for submittal. She noted that the challenge form had not been used during the process around “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” in part because they don’t have documentation the book is approved and due to the challenge beginning on social media. The challenge form, she explained, comes in after a text has been approved.
She also brought up Executive Limitation 7, item 6, which says she “may not fail to ensure instructional materials are approved through the evaluation process.”
“Though we have a process in place for materials to be approved, I can’t document that I did that,” she said.
The formal curriculum request process didn’t exist beyond program evaluation before 2014. There was a Request for Purchase process implemented before 2021, which moved to a digital format in 2021. This week, they added a portion asking teachers to explain the sensitive material in any texts they are requesting.
“We haven’t found this text in either one of those request forms,” Yates said. “What we do know is that we have copies of the book, so (we) completely understand why, because we have copies of the book, a teacher would believe it had been through this approval process.”
Looking forward, Yates and the district compiled a list of all approved, accessible materials for teachers to review.
“(Parents) were not questioning the passages. They were questioning, ‘How is the process used to identify materials that can be used?’” Yates said. Those books not on the list can be requested for approval. The list also includes supplemental and choice materials.
“This happened Thursday evening, and today is Monday,” Yates said. “That compiled list is a weekend’s worth of trying to move as quickly as I can to provide assurances to our families that indeed we do have a process … and where we need to close some gaps, that’s what we are working together with our teachers to be able to do.”
That list will go out in the October BV Monthly newsletter.
“I assume a teacher’s not going to put in a submittal if they don’t think it’s worthwhile, even with the sensitive text,” Yates said. “If it’s come to be recommended and there is sensitive text, they’ll have that particular space to write it.”
Another text being used in Advanced ELA will include a parent information session with teacher Robin Fritsch. Yates also noted that a previous parent information session regarding a sensitive text was not highly attended.
“As you can imagine, some of those teachers are feeling a bit confused at this point,” she said, “when they could use that strategy in the past and they haven’t had much family question or engagement about it.”
Yates plans to “affirm in our handbook and administrative policy that approved books with sensitive material include parent notification” and alternate text options when necessary. She also plans to implement a request deadline of July 1 in the year before use or at least 6 months before a text is considered to leave enough time for a full review. The next ELA Program Evaluation is set for 2025-26.
Board members thanked Yates for the district’s handling of the situation and clarification during the meeting.
“We have to support our teachers,” said board member Brett Mitchell, whose daughter read the book last year. “We have amazing teachers in our school system, and our administration does what they can do. … You have 200 staff that we’re working with. Are they all going to have exactly perfect communication? That’s hard.
“Social media is still totally on fire about it even though it’s been very, very well explained,” he said. “We’ve all just got to make sure we know what we’re reading is actually what happened and not just the two-second sound bite.”
Board member Paula Dylan, who listened to the audiobook after the social media discourse began, asked how long approval for a text takes. Yates said that, sometimes, she may only have a couple of days to review a text, which would be improved by setting a deadline for material requests.
Dylan also asked if, in these sorts of “emergency” situations, there was a way to pause briefly and then continue teaching. Yates explained they went a different direction as they didn’t have time to review all of the possible controversial materials and instead focused on preserving the learning outcomes. The book will go through a review process.
“I do commend you for owning up to the policy side of it and that gap and look forward to seeing how this process flourishes to where we don’t have this issue again,” said board member Lynn Montoya.
Dylan also shared a “resume” for the book with the board, including reviews and commendations, as well as a document with over 13 pages of support for the text. Parent Shawna Kinkaid, whose son read the book in school last year, said she and her child had an “intellectual 30-minute conversation” about “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and his interpretation of the sensitive passage.
“I’m glad this book was chosen,” Dylan read from Kinkaid’s comments. “It got my son, who hates reading, to really engage with a book. … A year later, he took away some great insights and it inspired a great conversation between him and I.”
Dylan also said that the book is “easy reading” and that its “edginess gets those kids interested.
“I do think that it is important, our process,” she said. “But I am sad to hear our students this year are missing out on that opportunity to get engagement, to discuss those things … with our teachers who are highly educated and ready to be able to explain the things in the book and have them lead those conversations with them, they’re missing out on that.”
Yates said she “would appreciate the staff having an opportunity to discuss this” outside of the current debate.
“We are making such good progress as staff in being able to talk through this. The energy around it is not helpful,” she said. “Whether it’s challenged or not or whether it’s approved, we are working together for them to even decide, ‘Is this the best text to accomplish what we want?’ I would like to stick with what we have, that we want this to go through the right review process and then let the next steps happen. If someone wants to challenge it, then that would be the time to do it.”
During public participation, Anastasia Sandmeier said she had concerns on the opposite side, that the district shouldn’t pull too much sensitive material.
“I really think our kids need to feel a little uncomfortable sometimes to learn and grow, and they should be able to have questions,” she said. “They need to be introduced to text in a way that’s mild and thought-provoking. … I feel like it’s a slippery slope if we start pulling things like this. My kids brought up ‘Diary of Anne Frank’ and how there’s content in there that is similar. … This is a very historical, amazing text which has a lot of really good benefits.”
Patrick Diehl asked how the Social Studies curriculum would be impacted by the pause in the text, and Yates explained that the Social Studies teacher planned to shift to other texts she has used in the past.
“She just won’t have this perspective,” Yates said. “She was not concerned about not having it. She was disappointed about not having that to embellish what she’s doing, but she has plenty to teach that historical perspective.”
Lastly, student Brantley Gaston asked the board why they and the parents were making the decision when it was students who were reading the book.
“I understand, of course, their parents might be concerned about that,” he said. “But besides Paula (Dylan), I’m guessing most of y’all haven’t read the book. From what I can tell, the book has been judged off 87 words when the book is 5000. Why can’t we decide if the book is appropriate to read rather than the people who aren’t reading it?”
This post was originally published on here
