ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque Public Schools wants your help when it comes to updating certain English and Spanish courses.

“Every year, we review instructional materials, because instructional materials don’t last forever,” said Rachel Altobelli, the senior director of Library Services and Instructional Materials with APS. “We always want to be current with standards.”

Altobelli is talking about materials like physical and online textbooks and workbooks. This year, APS is taking a look at K-8 English and K-5 Spanish Language Arts.

“At elementary, the same teachers will teach English Language Arts and Spanish Language Arts, so they need to review their materials together,” Altobelli said.

So far, not many parents have come out to the sessions to share their input, but district leaders are hoping that changes.

“There are hundreds of people looking at these textbooks, but we really, we want to know what our parents and our families and our community thinks,” Altobelli said.

APS says it’s about a six-year cycle for updating core curriculum subjects.

“The most important thing about a textbook adoption is making sure every teacher has a way to look at the materials and talk about how to use them and choose the materials that best support their teaching,” said Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation.

Bernstein stressed the importance of parents and teachers working together.

“I think it’s important for parents to understand the materials that the district adopts to use in classrooms,” Bernstein said. “But I think it’s also important that they understand it from how we use it, not just how they view it, because an instructional material is used by teachers in particular ways.”

If you couldn’t make it to Tuesday’s open review session, there are three more sessions scheduled. All sessions are at APS Headquarters.

• Wednesday, Oct. 25 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 2 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 8 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

RESOURCES

• If you’re a parent or community member who wants to give general feedback to APS, click here
• If you’re a parent or community member who wants to learn more about curriculum. You can watch videos made by publishers here
• To give feedback about the textbooks, click here
• To read about APS’ process, click here