As we've looked the past week, first year Clinton High School Principal Dr. Candice Swift has done some surveying of her departments and has identified needs and future improvements they may have.

One area of focus that is being given considerable focus is the English and Reading department. There are a lot of things to be done in the American Literature department. Dr. Swift explains currently there is a curriculum in place, but not for all grade levels. She has begun working with her teachers to begin the process of aligning their curriculum and materials with the new Common Core standards.

[audio:12612english1.mp3] [/audio]

As a part of updating and improving the curriculum, Dr. Swift wants to include writing and developing a research paper to prepare for college. As of right, there is no standard for senior students in the areas of writing. Her goal also would be to have a senior course that would align with the 'career readiness' portion of the common core.

[audio:12612english2.mp3] [/audio]

Right now the English department is in somewhat of a messy state. Dr. Swift says because there is no common curriculum written down, she does not know what books are being used by which teachers. She also explains there is also sharing of books amongst the teachers, which can create overlap in the learning for the students.

[audio:12612english3.mp3] [/audio]

Dr. Swift says there are currently books on their shelves, which may or may not be in use, that were used by her when she was in school.

Not all books in the English department are extremely outdated. She says they received new grammar books this year.