District selects McGraw Hill for middle school, TCI and Discovery for portions of high‑school social studies adoption
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Summary
After an extensive multi‑year process of standards alignment and classroom piloting, the district’s adoption committee recommended McGraw Hill for middle‑school social studies and recommended Discovery and TCI for separate high‑school courses.
The Rapid City Area Schools curriculum adoption committee presented its multi‑year secondary social studies adoption and recommended materials for adoption in 2025–26 after a formal piloting and review process.
Jennifer Roberts, the district’s director of Teaching, Learning and Innovation, told the board the process began in fall 2023 and involved roughly 30 teachers and administrators across eight buildings who vetted resources against South Dakota’s new social studies standards. The committee narrowed options to two pilot resources per course, ran classroom pilots, gathered teacher, student and community feedback, and used a two‑part evaluation (standards alignment, then usability) to reach consensus.
The nut graf: after piloting and a districtwide review, the middle school committee recommended McGraw Hill (grades 6–8) for districtwide adoption; high‑school recommendations were Discovery for world geography and TCI for U.S. history and U.S. government. World history teachers are conducting a shortened pilot and expect to report a final recommendation in March.
Committee members and pilot teachers described why they selected McGraw Hill for middle school, praising its adjustable Lexile levels, vocabulary supports, primary resources and dual‑language side‑by‑side Spanish/English support. Jerry Simmons, a middle‑school teacher on the committee, emphasized the adjustable reading level: “We wanted to be able to adjust their reading level on the digital platform so that they can read,” he said.
High‑school teachers favored Discovery for freshman world geography because it provides schoolwide access to Discovery’s experiential resources and videos; for upper‑house U.S. history and government, the committee chose TCI, where staff highlighted premade engagement activities, differentiation and dyslexia‑friendly student texts. Calum Jewer, a Central High School history teacher, said the TCI materials offered “authentic pre‑made student engagement activities, with real world application.”
Adoption process details: the committee used a 70% consensus threshold for adoption, piloted resources in classrooms (teachers received class sets), used a digital usability rubric (integration, differentiation, assessment feedback, ELL supports), and engaged community input via materials posted on the district website since October. The curriculum office also sought publisher unit plans to support teacher pilot implementation.
Next steps: curriculum staff will finalize pacing guides, align materials to South Dakota’s standards (including state OSCUs pending State Board action), complete the world history short pilot and return to the board with final adoption recommendations and implementation planning for fall 2025.
Ending: The board thanked staff and teachers for a lengthy adoption process and noted the adoption’s emphasis on classroom piloting and teacher voice.
