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Murrieta trustees hear teacher-backed proposals to adopt Benchmark Advance literacy and I-Ready math for elementary grades
Summary
After multi-month pilots and teacher consensus votes, district staff recommended adopting Benchmark Advance for K-1 literacy and I-Ready for elementary math, citing vertical alignment, ELD supports and digital assessments; teachers reported strong pilot support and materials are on public display for 30 days.
Teachers and district curriculum staff presented recommendations to the Murrieta Valley Unified School District Board of Education to adopt new elementary instructional materials after a multi-stage pilot process.
For English language arts, K-1 teachers recommended Benchmark Advance, a knowledge-building curriculum with aligned texts, consumable readers, ELD resources and home activity calendars. District presenters said 77% of pilot teachers voted in favor of the adoption and that printed materials and samples are available in school lobbies for a 30-day public review period.
On elementary mathematics, the adoption team piloted multiple vendors and reported a strong teacher preference for I-Ready. Teachers cited I-Ready's multi-day lesson pacing (three to five days per concept), embedded fluency practice, online learning games, and parent-facing letters that explain in-class goals and suggested home activities. At a consensus meeting, teachers voted overwhelmingly (reported as 87% in favor in survey results) for I-Ready over alternate options such as Illustrative Mathematics.
Why it matters: District leaders said the adoptions aim to provide a coherent K-5 vertical progression and to align foundational phonics (the district's 95% Phonics adoption) with language-comprehension instruction. Presenters emphasized supports for English learners, including translated parent letters and front-loaded vocabulary materials.
Teacher and student feedback: Classroom teachers who piloted the programs described immediate classroom benefits. "The Benchmark curriculum gives kids vocabulary and background knowledge they can build on year to year," one kindergarten teacher said; a first-grade teacher said students "love the practice pages" and the quick online feedback. Parents surveyed during pilots reported the take-home letters and suggested family activities helped them support learning at home, though the district noted the parent response rate to the pilot survey was roughly 10% of participating families.
Board action and next steps: The board heard the presentations and was shown pilot data and family feedback. Materials for both adoptions will remain available at school sites for public inspection through the review period; staff said the formal adoption timeline would follow board policy and incorporate any public input.
Quote: "Seventy-seven percent of participating teachers voted to adopt Benchmark for kindergarten and first grade," Michelle McCarthy, a district instructional coach, told the board.
The curriculum discussion was followed by separate action items on math course outlines and high-school course additions earlier in the meeting.
