The Challenge
When Diane Morgenstern assumed the director of curriculum and instruction position three years ago, Santa Cruz City School District teachers were using varying curriculum, district-wide professional development opportunities were scanty, and there was a lack of opportunity for collaboration among administrators, teachers, and staff. "When I arrived, there was a little bit of everything," said Morgenstern. "In some cases, we were selecting common curriculum, but we were not doing everything to support teachers in sharing those resources district-wide. We needed to focus on collaborative planning, weighting of the curriculum, and coming together as a district." 

About the Santa Cruz City School District
Located approximately thirty miles south of San Jose on Monterey Bay, the Santa Cruz City School District is comprised of five elementary schools, two middle schools, and three comprehensive high schools, with a total enrollment of 7,164 students. Sixty-one percent of the student population is Caucasian, 26 percent Hispanic, 3 percent Asian, and 0.6 percent Filipino, American Indian, and Pacific Islander.

First Step: Gathering Teachers and Staff Together to Reform Board Policies
Morgenstern considered the closure of two elementary schools two years ago an impetus for change. As teachers from those schools were placed in remaining open schools, Morgenstern carefully evaluated how curriculum was selected. "The school closures—due to declining enrollment—actually gave us the chance to evaluate how we could better support teachers at the district level," she explained. "With all of the external demands on teachers such as No Child Left Behind and state testing requirements, district-wide collaboration and the adoption of uniform curriculum are increasingly crucial."

In a series of meetings facilitated by Morgenstern, teachers expressed various needs, interests, and challenges. Through this process of active dialogue with teachers, Morgenstern discovered a shared vision and purpose. "The teachers were unanimous at all levels—they wanted more collaboration on the selection of curriculum and more professional training to support the curriculum in the classroom."

In addition to her meetings with Santa Cruz School District teachers, Morgenstern investigated the best practices in neighboring districts to include the voices of even more teachers. Once teacher input was established, Morgenstern revised the textbook curriculum adoption policies to formally include teachers in the process, with the support of the superintendent.

Second Step: Restructuring the Textbook Adoption Process
The amended textbook adoption process required teachers and staff to form adoption committees and select two to three programs from the California state-approved textbook list. Both committee member teachers and non-committee member teachers then piloted the chosen curriculum for a couple of months to assess its effectiveness. Teachers also involved students in the process to pilot textbooks and provide feedback. To evaluate the progress of the pilot programs, teachers and administrators participated in monthly adoption meetings.

Once the pilots were completed, pilot teachers filled out evaluation forms and submitted them to district staff. The district-wide team of teachers and administrators met and reviewed the evaluations, and, by consensus, determined which curriculum would best suit the district.

Third Step: Providing Professional Development Opportunities
Three years ago, the district devoted just three days per year to professional development. At the teachers' request, the district revamped and expanded its professional development opportunities and included a new focus on teacher-directed offerings. "Some of the most highly engaging training our teachers have had comes from fellow teachers," said Morgenstern. "Our community as a whole—regardless of divergence in their style—is committed to the highest level of instruction in the classroom. They wanted more robust and diverse opportunities to learn from district-provided resources and from each other."

Results
By bringing teachers, administrators, and staff together; aligning curriculum; and expanding professional development offerings, Santa Cruz City Schools have sucessfully used collaborative planning to strengthen their district ties with the following:

• establishment of a teacher-directed and district-approved professional development program that totals eight days per year
• 300 percent increase in district-directed professional development days for teachers
• revised textbook adoption process that includes teachers and administrators, and resulted in the first uniform social studies curriculum adoption district-wide
• monthly curriculum meetings for teachers and administrators

"By focusing on the adoption of academically rigorous curriculum with teachers' feedback and approval, we honor the work they do and the students' lives they affect every day," said Morgenstern. "I am proud of the way we have unified as a district."