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District presents Houghton Mifflin 'Into Literature' pilot for grades 6–8; approval pending
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Summary
Curriculum staff presented a yearlong pilot recommending Houghton Mifflin Into Literature for middle school English language arts, citing green EdReports ratings, print-plus-digital resources and teacher training; the board was asked to consider approval pending review.
District curriculum staff proposed adopting Houghton Mifflin Into Literature for grades 6–8 after a year of piloting and a rubric-based review.
The curriculum director (introduced to the board as "Miss Wonders") described the selection process: teachers across sixth through eighth grades, special education and intervention staff, administrators and an ISD consultant piloted candidate programs, evaluated them against a rubric (standards alignment, assessment, differentiation and platform usability), and narrowed the choices to the proposed program. She said the program offers both print and digital components, a writeable tool to support in-class writing feedback and embedded close-reading routines across grade levels.
Kelly Wagner, middle school principal, highlighted current building data: 703 students in grades 6–8, staffing levels, an ELA proficiency rate cited at 78% for eighth-grade spring testing, reduced discipline incidents and an honors club that reached half of students in each grade level. During Q&A, board members asked whether the program supports differentiation (the presenter said yes), whether students would have access to take-home texts (staff said softcover consumables and printable versions would be available) and whether parents could view writeables (staff provided a demo login and said student accounts could be accessed at home; a dedicated parent portal was not guaranteed).
Staff said EdReports scored the program highly and that local pilot experience and curriculum maps have been prepared; next steps would be board approval to finalize training and implementation over the summer with full classroom use planned for August.
The board did not vote on the adoption at this meeting; staff left copies and a demo login available for review through the board's review period, and asked the board to consider approval at a subsequent meeting.
