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Board hears proposals to pilot McGraw Hill ELA program and other curricular pilots; vote expected at Thursday meeting
Summary
District administrators told the board they are piloting McGraw Hill instructional products in math and a new English language arts program called Emerge, and proposed a 90‑day middle‑school pilot of TCI social studies.
District administrators detailed multiple curricular pilots and vendor relationships and asked the board to move a middle-school ELA pilot forward for approval this week.
"We were involved with a national showcase school district in math for McGraw Hill," said Doctor Mancuso, an administrator, describing the district's continuing relationship with McGraw Hill and the free-year extension the publisher offered for its digital products after the district provided pilot feedback. Doctor Mancuso said McGraw Hill also introduced a new English language arts program the district has agreed to pilot for grades 3–5 (the program was referred to in board discussion as Emerge).
Administrators said six departmentalized teachers in grades 3–5 volunteered for the ELA pilot and that Emerge offers a standards-and-skills “graph” teachers and students can use to track progress, print student editions in color to reduce screen time, and content that integrates social studies and science themes. The district said WestEd will perform an efficacy study on the pilot; parents will be asked to sign a release if their child’s aggregated data is included in WestEd’s research. Doctor Mancuso said that teacher observations will also be uploaded to the standards-and-skills graph so classroom performance is part of the data picture.
The board also heard that the district’s math pilot (McGraw Hill Reveal/ALEKS/McGraw Hill Plus) continues with a free extension for another year and that the publisher has been responsive to the district’s feedback. For social studies, administrators proposed a 90-day middle-school pilot of TCI (Teachers' Curriculum Institute), highlighting teacher-written and frequently updated materials, built-in differentiation and digital tools, and alignment to Pennsylvania standards.
Pricing was discussed: administrators gave preliminary cost estimates presented by the vendor for elementary digital licenses (one-year and five-year bundles) and several bundling options that included print classroom sets. The district provided sample figures during the meeting (one-year elementary digital estimate in the discussion was roughly $20,000–$26,000; a five-year bundled estimate was cited in the $62,000–$74,000 range) and said it will negotiate bundled pricing and seek the best multi-year option if the program is adopted. Administrators emphasized they would try to secure multi-year discounts if the board moves forward.
Board members asked how changes and updates from publishers would be vetted, whether student performance data would be shared with vendors in aggregate, and how the district would ensure assessment consistency across classrooms. Doctor Mancuso said teacher feedback drives updates and that the district has the vendor’s attention during the pilot.
The board was told the pilot would be presented for board approval Thursday; administrators said the district will have firm pricing by January to inform the 2026–27 budget if the board decides to adopt the programs.
Why it matters: Piloting and adopting a major curricular platform affects classroom practice, assessment, budget and teacher professional development. The district plans to measure student growth and teacher feedback before any adoption decision.
