Board hears follow-up on 6—6 ELA adoption; staff outlines planned K— ELA adoption timeline and novel-review process
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Summary
District curriculum staff gave a progress report on the 6—6 ELA adoption, explained how teachers will use HMH materials and the digital library, and outlined a proposed timeline and committee process for a future K— ELA adoption.
District curriculum staff updated the J.O. Combs governing board on implementation steps after the May adoption of the 6—6 English language arts (ELA) materials and presented a plan to begin a separate K— ELA adoption.
Jennifer Nevins of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment (CIA) summarized summer work: materials arrival in June, creation and revision of curriculum maps aligned to Arizona's essential standards, trainings for teachers on HMH resources and a writable component, and follow-up classroom support. Nevins said the adopted materials include strategies (notice and note) intended to transfer reading skills across content areas and that where a text has potential bias the curriculum maps include supplemental items to present balanced perspectives.
Leah, the district's elementary instructional specialist, told the board that K— ELA adoptions must align with Arizona's Move On When Reading requirements. Those standards require curricula that include the “big five” of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Leah said some core vendors do not include a sufficiently robust explicit phonics program, so the district may adopt a supplemental phonics program alongside a core K— curriculum.
Staff explained how the HMH digital library works: certain classic novels are provided digitally and access is controlled by grade-level settings; teachers can assign novels or administrators can enable titles per class. Staff noted roughly 100 available digital titles were provided in vendor lists and that district staff are working with the vendor on UI improvements (for example, a clearer favorite/not-favorite button) to make it easier to limit or expose titles.
On process, staff described a standard multi-step adoption timeline: develop a rubric (must-haves, nice-to-haves, 'cherry on top'), solicit vendors via RFP, provide a 60-day public review, convene a committee of teachers, special educators, principals and parents to score materials, invite finalist vendors for presentations, and bring recommendations to the board. The district proposed starting the K— timeline in September; staff asked the board to authorize release of the RFP at that time to meet fiscal-year purchasing timelines.
Board members asked for transparent committee selection and for the district to provide committee membership lists, the rubric and interim checkpoint presentations. Staff agreed to provide those materials and to schedule periodic updates at board meetings during the adoption.
Why it matters: textbook and curriculum adoptions shape classroom instruction for years and must comply with state procurement and parental-review statutes. The district's schedule aims to balance fiscal constraints and teacher workload while meeting state literacy requirements.
What wasn't decided: the board did not select any specific K— materials at this meeting; staff sought guidance and permission to begin the procurement timeline in September.
Sources: district CIA presentations and questions from board members.
