Fountain Hills board hears McGraw Hill’s Reveal Math demo; curriculum committee to bring adoption vote Aug. 21

McGraw Hill representatives introduced Reveal Math K–5 to the Fountain Hills Unified School District governing board on Aug. 7, presenting a live demo of teacher and student materials and the McGraw Hill Plus data dashboard.

Larissa Sykes, the local McGraw Hill representative, opened the presentation and introduced Craig Wilmore, a math curriculum specialist, who walked the board through routines, diagnostics and teacher supports. Wilmore demonstrated a third‑grade teacher landing page, item analysis tools and the program’s "math replay" videos in English and Spanish. "We do meet the Arizona State standards," Wilmore said, showing how lesson plans map to grade‑level standards and include differentiation options and readiness diagnostics.

Board members praised the pacing, manipulatives and digital supports but questioned language on the vendor website and in the teacher materials. Board member Madison Reid said the marketing language on the Reveal Math site—phrases such as "exploration," "conversation," and that some prompts "have no right or wrong answer"—caused concern for K–5 instruction, arguing those phrases could confuse students learning basic computations. "Math is not up for interpretation," Reid said, adding that she appreciated the program’s manipulatives and replay videos but wanted assurance the curriculum would prioritize foundational skill mastery.

Wilmore responded that core lessons include correct answers and that some classroom activities intentionally invite students to explain their reasoning; he said the student books and teacher edition differentiate instruction and that SEL‑oriented prompts are optional teacher‑edition paragraphs. "In math, there is a correct answer," he said, "but sometimes there are multiple right answers available based on the justification a student provides."

Superintendent Dr. Jay told the board the district committee that reviewed the program plans to bring Reveal Math back to the board for a decision at the Aug. 21 meeting. Board members were offered a board copy of the materials for review ahead of that vote. No approval occurred at the Aug. 7 meeting; the presentation was informational and followed by a scheduled decision at the next meeting.

The board’s next steps: examine the vendor materials, review the provided demo account, and consider the curriculum committee’s recommendation at the Aug. 21 meeting.