Sun Prairie staff recommend $1.33 million purchase of I Ready for K–5 math

Sun Prairie Area School District staff recommended that the school board approve a $1,325,456.49 purchase of I Ready Classroom Mathematics for kindergarten through fifth grade, the district’s presenters said in a recorded briefing released ahead of the Feb. 9 board meeting.

The recommendation, delivered by Lexi Vanden Heuvel, the district mathematics coordinator, followed a multi‑step review by a 29‑member steering committee that used district gates, EdReports ratings, vendor demonstrations, family open houses and site visits to evaluate materials. The committee said it reached a unanimous selection of I Ready on Jan. 21 and asked the board to authorize the purchase and associated professional development.

Why it matters: The purchase would pay for universal and supplemental print and digital student materials, an online platform with family resources and a co‑created professional‑learning plan that district staff said would span implementation through 2028. Vanden Heuvel said the expenditure breaks down to roughly $48 per student per year and about $228 to cover the K–5 experience for a single student across those grades.

How the committee reached the recommendation: District staff described a five‑step adoption process. Committee members applied four locally created gates—deep mathematical understanding; culturally and linguistically responsive instruction; universal design for learning; and usability/implementation support—to narrow 22 initial options through research, EdReports ratings and classroom study. In the final stages the committee invited vendors to present, conducted site visits (including Oak Creek‑Franklin and a Waukesha dual‑language school), held two family open houses and surveyed families and staff.

Classroom perspective: Patrick Venture, a second‑grade teacher at Royal Oaks Elementary and a parent whose children attend nearby schools that use I Ready, told the district he had observed benefits in practice. “They like to talk about math when they come home,” Venture said, describing stronger mental‑math strategies and more confidence in students who had used the resource.

Professional development and assessment: Vanden Heuvel outlined a co‑created training plan with I Ready trainers that includes summer foundational training, fall and winter coaching tied to diagnostic data, and tailored grade‑level supports. The I Ready diagnostic would be given three times a year, district staff said, and the platform includes dashboards and family resources to help caregivers understand student progress.

What’s next: The steering committee forwarded its unanimous recommendation to the school board for consideration at the Feb. 9 meeting. The board will have an opportunity to ask follow‑up questions in advance of the meeting, district staff said.

No formal board action was recorded in this presentation; the recommendation is a purchase request that the school board is being asked to approve at its upcoming meeting.