Piper board adopts I‑Ready for K–8 math after multi‑month pilot

Piper School District trustees voted unanimously Monday to adopt the I‑Ready K–8 math curriculum, following a pilot and months of teacher feedback and state and third‑party reviews.

The move covers district access to the full I‑Ready suite, classroom manipulatives, individualized MyPath licenses and two years of professional learning the district said it will phase in for teachers. The board approved the adoption after presentations from district instructional leaders who described I‑Ready as both a core and intervention solution aligned to Kansas standards.

District Director of Teaching and Learning Dr. John Winn and teacher‑leader Meg Richards led the presentation, saying the resource scored highly on third‑party reviews and was one of relatively few math programs on the Kansas State Department of Education approved list for at‑risk funds. Richards described multiple pilot‑year listening sessions with teachers and on‑site professional development in August, September, October and February to support implementation.

"We wanted teachers along the entire way," Richards said during the presentation, and staff noted the pilot included representation from each piloting building. Board members asked about sustainability and training for new teachers after the two‑year professional learning window. District staff said new‑teacher orientation and building instructional coaches would be part of ongoing support and that a sustainability plan would be developed.

The board packet noted EdReports.org gave I‑Ready top ratings across grade levels and that KSDE consultants had recommended trusting the program’s alignment to Kansas standards. Presenters also said the district will update its MTSS guidebooks to align tiered interventions with the new resource if the board adopted it.

Board members repeatedly praised the district for including teachers in the review process. After discussion, a board member moved adoption; a second was made and the measure passed with a unanimous vote.

What the board approved: full adoption of I‑Ready math K–8, purchase of materials and two years of professional development, and alignment work to update MTSS protocols. The motion did not list a named mover or seconder in the transcript; the vote recorded in the minutes was unanimous.

The district said next steps include recruiting teacher committee members to finalize grade‑level expectations and beginning additional professional learning and systems alignment after spring break.

The district made the recommendation to the board as part of a larger curriculum review that compared I‑Ready with previously used resources and included teacher pilots, consultant feedback and vendor training. Additional details on per‑year costs or exact contract terms were included in the board packet but not read into the record at the meeting.