COSTA MESA NEWPORT BEACH : Schools to Undergo Curriculum Audit

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District will undergo a curriculum audit next week, the first ever for the district.

The audit will take a look at what is being taught in classrooms and whether it is consistent throughout the district.

“It takes some courage to have a curriculum audit done,” said Newport-Mesa Supt. Mac Bernd. “It is an exhausting look at what is going on and, in at least most audits, they make recommendations that we don’t necessarily want to hear.”

The audit will be conducted by six auditors trained by the National Curriculum Audit Center of the American Assn. of School Administrators.

The six will be visiting classrooms at each of the 26 schools in the district from Monday through Dec. 17 and will interview teachers and administrators. They will also interview interested parents.

They will be poring over test scores, internal memoranda, salary schedules, lists of computer equipment at each school and a myriad of other things.

The findings will be the basis for improving the quality of education, Bernd said.

The concept of an audit was approved by the Board of Education recently and its $32,500 cost will be paid from interest earned on a multimillion-dollar endowment fund set up by the Irvine Co. to improve school curricula.

The audit is not going to rank the best and worst teachers or the best and worst schools in the district. Rather, auditors will focus on whether the standard math program is consistent from school to school.

When applied districtwide, the auditors will determine whether Newport-Mesa is organized to effectively provide quality teaching and learning in its classrooms.

The results of the audit will be available to the public early next year, Bernd said.

For more information, call (714) 760-3500.