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USD 443 staff recommend McGraw Hill ELA adoption after months‑long vetting
Summary
A district committee that included teachers, principals and coaches recommends the board adopt McGraw Hill ELA materials (Emerge K–5; StudySync 6–12). The board will consider a formal approval at its April meeting; staff outlined professional development, data integration and estimated first‑year costs.
Dr. Springst, a district staff member leading the ELA work group, told the board the committee will bring a formal recommendation at the April meeting to adopt McGraw Hill instructional materials: Emerge for K–5 and StudySync for grades 6–12. The recommendation follows a multi‑month vetting process involving classroom teachers, instructional coaches, administrators and family engagement staff.
The committee said it used Kansas State Department of Education alignment tools, depth‑of‑knowledge rubrics and a side‑by‑side lesson comparison to narrow candidates to two vendors and then reach consensus. "Our recommendation will be to go with McGraw Hill products — Emerge for K–5 and StudySync for grades 6–12," Dr. Springst said, describing the process that began in August and included SWAT analyses and public review sessions in February.
Principals and teachers who served on the committee said McGraw Hill was chosen for stronger foundational‑reading design in lower grades, more built‑in supports for English learners and clearer opportunities for depth‑of‑knowledge level‑3 and level‑4 tasks at the secondary level. "Having that common vocabulary and common structures was very important to us," said Carla Madano, principal at Lynn Elementary, describing why the group favored a single‑vendor approach K–12.
Teachers outlined planned professional development to accompany any adoption: initial training for principals and coaches this spring, a summer rollout for teacher leaders, and ongoing grade‑level PLC work during the first year. District staff said McGraw Hill provides a teacher dashboard and assessment platform and the vendor is working on integration with Renaissance/FastBridge data so teachers can view screening and standards‑level results in one place.
Staff provided an estimated year‑one cost range (final enrollment figures and quotes were pending) and said textbook reserve funds have been set aside to cover the purchase. The superintendent said the April 13 meeting will include the recommendation for board action and the May meeting would include any approval to remove or discard unused resources.
Board members asked about practical implementation questions — whether the McGraw Hill dashboard will integrate with gradebooks and how much instruction will be print‑based versus screen‑based by grade. District staff said they will confirm integration details with the vendor and shared the vendor's recommended guidelines (kindergarten: about 95% direct instruction; high‑school courses may run toward 50/50 print/digital depending on course and student needs).
Next step: the board will receive the formal recommendation and final quote at the April 13 meeting; no adoption vote was taken at this session.
