GALT, CA (MPG) - Galt Joint Union High School District’s newly-adopted ethnic studies curriculum will include instruction on local populations, including the Native American and Portuguese American communities. The board of trustees approved the course and reviewed state test results at its Nov. 21 regular meeting.

Under California’s Assembly Bill 101, the district is required to develop an ethnic studies course to be introduced in the 2025-26 school year as an elective. It will then become a graduation requirement, starting with the incoming freshmen of 2026-27.

Educational Services director Linda DeWilde said the class is planned to last one semester. She described it as “an interdisciplinary course that focuses on people’s experiences and perspectives living in America.”

“Through themes of identity, history, systems of power and social movements, students will gain insights into how race, ethnicity, nationality and culture shape both our individual selves and our overall society in the United States,” DeWilde said.

As required by the state, the course will cover the experiences of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

“But also we get to include the local aspects and that’s what really makes this a unique experience for our students,” DeWilde said, noting that there will also be units on the local Miwok tribe, Wilton Rancheria, and on the area’s history of Portuguese immigration and on the Galt Latino community.

Class activities will include surveying people at the Galt Market and discovering underrepresented social movements in the area. The program would conclude with a “capstone activity” in which students would address a local issue.

District faculty have been working on the curriculum since last fall.

“In fall of 2023, a team of history/social science teachers and English teachers were assembled to gather information and create an ethnic studies course for the district,” DeWilde said. “Together with an outside consultant and an expert from Sacramento State University, the team explored coursework from other districts, toured areas of Galt and its surrounding region to investigate the significant historical events and people as well as the long-standing cultural practices in the community.”

Since fall, the teachers have met monthly to write the course summary, outline and lesson plans.

DeWilde noted that while the course is open to any grade level, it is anticipated that most students will take it in freshman year.

Trustee Dennis Richardson said it will be a “challenge” to present all of the information planned in one semester. DeWilde voiced “full confidence” in the teachers’ ability to do so.

“There’s a lot of passion that’s going into it as well, but they really planned … very thoroughly,” DeWilde said.

Trustees Terry Parker and Melissa Neuburger are eager to see how the class progresses, suggesting that students could present their capstone projects to the board.

The board voted 4-0 to approve the ethnic studies course; Trustee Mark Beck was absent. 

With board approval, the class will be added to the course catalog for 2025-26. Staff will give an in-depth look at the curriculum in January.

DeWilde also presented results from state testing in math, English language arts and science.

The results came from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), which tests English and math skills, and from the California Science Test (CAST). The assessments are administered to juniors and measure how well students are meeting grade-level expectations.

The most recent results, from spring of 2023-24, showed overall improvement over the previous school year in math and science, while English performance dipped.

The number of students meeting or exceeding expectations in math rose by about 2.5 percentage points compared to the previous year, and the number at the same level in science rose 1.3 percentage points. In English, the number of students meeting or exceeding standards dropped by 2.6 percentage points.

The district’s results were higher than the statewide numbers in English and science but trailed the state in math.

Among English topics, the fewest students, 17.8%, were falling below standards in research and inquiry, with higher numbers in listening and reading. The highest proportion, 23.4%, were below expectations in writing.

In math, the most that students underperformed on were concepts and procedures. In science the weakest area was Earth and space sciences.

DeWilde noted several strategies that staff is planning in response to the results, including greater focus on writing, concepts and procedures, and Earth and space sciences.

Staff noted that the two years shown represent different cohorts of 11th-graders and a different number of students.