AUBURN - Jeff Evener is doing for Auburn Enlarged City School District teachers what wasn't done for him.

As a new social studies teacher starting in 2002 at East Middle School, Evener didn't know what exactly to teach his students or how long he should spend on a unit. He had no established plan to go off of.

Turning to his teacher colleagues for help and using the New York State social studies curriculum as a model, he said he mapped out his own curriculum from which he presented information to his students.

Six years later, Evener is making sure that social studies teachers across the district know exactly what and how they should be teaching so that all students from the five elementary schools to the high school learn the same material and are equally prepared for higher education and the so-called real world.

Last year, the district promoted Evener to the role of subject area supervisor, an administrative role that provides leadership in the development, implementation and coordination of curriculum and instruction.

As the social studies supervisor, Evener provides leadership in one of four subject areas. Jeremy Dodds, who came to the district as the science and mathematics supervisor in 2004, is now focusing on mathematics as district science teacher David Oliver was promoted last year to oversee the science program. And Michael Fedorchuk was hired from outside the district to oversee English Language Arts.

What is significant in this 2007-08 academic year is that this is the first time in nearly 13 years that there are supervisors coordinating all of the core subjects.

In June 1995, facing a budget shortfall of $1.6 million and lower than expected state aid numbers, the sitting board of education authorized the elimination of numerous administrators, faculty and staff in order to correct the deficit while at the same time creating no new taxes.

Among the positions on the chopping block were seven subject area supervisors overseeing the delivery of the four core subjects, foreign languages, fine arts and music.

After nearly a decade without those supervisors ensuring consistency through all grade levels and district schools, the existing curriculums started to erode, and by the time Dodds jumped on board four years ago, there were areas that had no written curriculum.

“There were teachers here in the mid-90s that are obviously still here and they continue to do what they have done,” he said. “But as new teachers came on, they were not always getting the information or they had to rely on their neighbors to get it because there wasn't anybody saying, 'In the third grade you need to be doing this in terms of mathematics or in terms of writing.' So there wasn't that consistency.”

District administrators started looking at assessment scores and realized there was a need to bring in someone who could facilitate curriculum development and be a resource to teachers.

“With looking at our assessment scores, we thought we needed a higher level of accountability, someone with expertise that can create and help with curriculum.” Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Carolyn Hirst-Loucks said.

But why now? What makes it important to have supervisors for each of the core subject areas?

Superintendent Joseph D. “J.D” Pabis gives four words as the reason.

No Child Left Behind.

“You now have standards, benchmarks, No Child Left Behind,” he said. “With every state now having standards, and local autonomy also means local accountability, you have to have some supervision over those areas to make sure everything is going on.”

The No Child Left Behind Act, President George W. Bush's landmark education reform signed into law in 2002, endeavors to close the achievement gap and ensure that all students are successful. Under NCLB, states and school districts have to make state and national benchmarks; districts that fail to make adequate yearly progress must take corrective action.

The Auburn school district is currently listed by the state as a District in Need of Improvement.

Pabis said school districts are more accountable than ever before, and with ever-changing state and federal mandates, there comes a need for people who are experienced and knowledgeable to ensure that subject material is aligned vertically through grade levels and horizontally through the individual schools.

Beyond administering curriculum, these supervisors share relevant literature, practices and resources to teachers, observe teachers in the classroom and provide feedback and recommendations as well as model lessons.

Pabis expects to see these supervisors have more direct contact with teachers as they become more fully ingrained in the district.

“I envision them, as they are meeting with staff members saying, ‘Fourth grade social studies over in Casey (Park Elementary School) is doing a fine job; I'm going to go and learn what I can and then work with the other teachers to develop this lesson the way it was developed,'” he said. “It's modeling and it's best practices, and that's what we've been trying to do.

“A lot of it now is the data collection to get us up to speed, but eventually that's what its going to be.”

Sally Jo Widmer, president of the Auburn Teachers Association, knows full well the value of subject area coordinators. She was president of the union back in 1995 and opposed the budget cuts.

“It's really been a boon that over the last four to five years, we've been able to replace the middle-management coordinator positions,” said Widmer. “We're really glad they are back.”

While Dodds' salary is a district expenditure, the positions for Evener, Fedorchuk and Oliver are currently funded through Contract for Excellence, the state's education reform which provides extra funding to districts in need of improvement.

While the district is no longer listed as a C4E school, Auburn will receive the extra funding as state foundation aid, Pabis said.

Should Auburn see a repeat of June 1995, Pabis said these administrators will not be the first to be headhunted.

“We try not to impact or make cuts that have a direct relationship to instruction,” he said. “I view the supervisors as having a direct impact on instruction.”

On the contrary, Auburn still does not have a full complement of supervisors, and has recently been suggested by? to consider hiring a fine arts supervisor, Pabis said.

The supervisor position is currently not in the 2008-09 budget; should the pieces fall together, the district is looking at 2009-10 at the earliest.

Auburn administrators and Widmer all agree the subject area coordinators are important to the success of students within the district.

“I think that the middle level administrators are going to make the difference whether we are successful or not,” she said. “They are a wonderful resource and a necessary resource.”

And a resource that will evoke change.

“I think that what we do is critical to moving kids forward and I think that takes time,” Dodds said. “Now, I've been here for four years, and I think we're at the point that we're seeing payoffs from, not my presence, but the presence of this position.

“Now that we have supervisors for each of the core academics, I think you are going to see even greater progress.”

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net