On April 4, district members convened at South Shore Elementary School for a regular board meeting in which curriculum coordinator Stacy Lee presented an update to the adoption of curriculum in the district.
According to Lee, committees of teachers agreed on recommendations of materials for Language Arts for elementary and middle school, English Language Development (ELD) for K-12, and World Languages in high school.
During the meeting, Lee said that the World Languages committee, made up of high school teachers for German, Spanish, and French, agreed on the Vista Higher Learning textbooks for Spanish and French; the committee agreed on Vista Higher Learning or Klett USA textbooks for German. The highlights mentioned by Lee are that they’re culturally diverse, there’s an increase in ability for student involvement, and that they fit with current needs.
The committee for ELD agreed on Cengage textbooks for ELD students with the highlights of built-in assessments, subject cross-compatibility, and that the units include critical thinking, speaking and listening, and reading and writing.
For grades K-8, the Language Arts committee agreed on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt textbooks, according to Lee. The highlights mentioned by four members of the committee were the improved access to online materials, the ease of use, flexibility, and integration for teachers, the subject cross-compatibility, and the high amounts of engagement and diversity within the books.
According to Lee, the World Language books will be used from the Fall of 2022 to the Spring of 2027 and ELD and Language Arts until 2028 with online resources of all the new materials, if adopted by the board. The adoption of high school language arts and mathematics was delayed to the 2022-2023 school year.
“At our next board meeting [on April 18], I will be asking for an action item related to adoption,” Lee said.
