District staff recommend CommonLit ELA curriculum for grades 6–12; final adoption planned for July

Tumwater School District staff said they will recommend that the board adopt CommonLit as the district’s 6–12 English language arts curriculum at the July board meeting after a year‑long pilot and review process.

Megan Dawson, assistant superintendent, told the board an instructional materials committee of about 20 secondary teachers met multiple times and piloted several curriculum options during the 2024–25 year. The committee recommended CommonLit as the top choice and completed its final review on June 10.

Dawson said the district ran teacher‑led pilots with checkpoints in October, November, February, April and June and that CommonLit performed well on measures including student engagement, scaffolded writing supports, alignment across grades and readiness for teachers. She said the “annual cost of CommonLit is well below what we are already paying in our current curriculum. So we will actually save a little bit of money.”

Board members asked about public access to materials required by policy. A board director cited Policy 2020, which requires instructional materials be available for public review. Dawson said most pilot materials are available online and that staff will post and promote the materials so parents and community members can review them before the July adoption vote. She said the instructional‑materials packet contains a three‑page summary and that a more detailed 20–25 page packet will be shared with board members and posted for public review.

The district will present a formal adoption recommendation in July; at that meeting the board will vote whether to adopt CommonLit for grades 6–12.