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Dexter schools describe switch from Summit to Gradient, districtwide Canvas rollout and literacy investments
Summary
District curriculum director Bridal Greer told the board the district has transitioned fifth—12 instruction from Summit to Gradient (now running in Canvas), described curricular resource changes (Illustrative Math, EL Education, OpenSciEd), and detailed grant-funded literacy coaching and assessment expansions tied to recent state grants.
Bridal Greer, introduced by the board as executive director, gave a detailed curriculum update that described the district—s move from Summit Learning to Gradient (a rebrand and curricular update) and the decision to standardize on Canvas as the district—s learning management system for grades 5—12.
Greer said the switch brings new curricular resources for math (Illustrative Math), ELA (EL Education), science (OpenSciEd) and project-based OER social studies. "In our ELA, reading and writing, all of our fifth through eighth graders in Gradient will be utilizing EL Education," Greer told the board. She said Gradient has narrowed its student outcomes to five priorities — resilience, agency, curiosity, purpose and self-direction — which align with the district—s competencies.
On the LMS change, Greer said the district now has one common Canvas instance for fifth through twelfth grades, which simplifies logins and aligns with many colleges that use Canvas. She acknowledged a learning curve for staff, noting two Canvas instances (district and Gradient) require some configuration work but said many teachers "have just chosen to dive right in." Greer also described tradeoffs in the new Gradient resources: the self-paced advancement that some students previously used is less prevalent in the current iteration of Gradient, while other supports (including AI-driven placement tools such as the "Alex" math program) are proving useful.
Greer reviewed grant-funded supports that are already in place: the 23g "Michigan Kid Back on Track" grant funded summer tutoring for roughly 150 students over two summers and supported intervention paraprofessionals; the 35j science-of-reading grant (approximately $460,000) paid for materials, licenses, professional development and a half-time literacy coach. She said the district has used grant funds to replace approximately $12,000 worth of supplemental books earlier identified as problematic for diversity/equity concerns.
Greer pointed to early internal assessment gains: Acadience measures showed an improvement from roughly 60% of students at or above grade level to 75% in a comparable first-grade cohort year-over-year, a 15-percentage-point increase that she described as encouraging though not yet conclusive for long-term standardized results.
The board requested a more detailed, separate presentation on MSAP data and Greer said she would schedule it with district leadership for a future meeting. Greer also said the district will report grant staffing and expenditure lists to the state as a condition for year-two funding.
