Two former teachers say curriculum resulted in a C grade for elementary school

McGinnis said in the past the district placed more emphasis on reading and math lessons, and social studies was often used as an extra reading lesson with teachers using historical stories to test reading comprehension.

“I don't think we would have been given that curriculum if they had thought it would have counted,” McGinnis said. “If they had asked us if we thought it would've passed the test, we would've said no.”

Lynne Rowley, director of elementary education for Edmond Public Schools, said schools are now being told to make sure they are teaching every subject.

“One of the things that (the grades) brought to our attention is the need to make sure we teach all of the subject areas even though we have our attention on the fundamentals like reading and math,” Rowley said. “Reading and math are building blocks for future learning and, at the elementary level, we need to make sure we have solid building blocks, but that our focus isn't too narrow.”

Merriott said even though she wasn't named specifically, she wanted her name cleared because it put a lot of guilt on her mother.

“My mom saw those comments and was very upset,” she said. “We enjoyed our years at Ida Freeman — our last year was really tough but we did truly enjoy it. But I just feel like I'm not taking the blame because I don't think it should be on me.”