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Subcommittee weighs cuts to Lexia, proposes i-Ready pilot and lower-cost ELD alternatives
Summary
District staff proposed concentrating Lexia Core5 use in K–2, discontinuing use in grades 3–5, piloting i-Ready ELA for more granular assessment, reducing Elevation PD modules to save about $48,000, and replacing Lexia English (low usage, high cost) with lower-cost, curriculum-aligned tools like Mote where appropriate.
Fall River Public Schools staff asked the instructional subcommittee to approve a set of assessment and software adjustments intended to improve instruction, reduce screen time in early grades and realize budget savings.
Steph and district staff recommended removing Lexia Core5 from kindergarten to allow more play-based and oral-language work, concentrating Lexia in grades 1–2 where district data show stronger efficacy, and discontinuing routine Lexia use in grades 3–5 in favor of adult-led intervention during intervention/WIN blocks. Staff emphasized teacher-delivered interventions for the district's most fragile learners and cited concerns about excessive screen time in kindergarten.
On assessment, staff proposed piloting i-Ready ELA's diagnostic and standards-mastery tools across grades 2–8 to give teachers more granular information and actionable differentiation resources. Staff reported prior positive correlations between i-Ready mathematics diagnostics and MCAS outcomes and estimated the incremental cost at about $44,000, which they said would be partly offset by savings from discontinuing other platforms.
For English-language-development supports, staff recommended discontinuing Lexia English (cited as expensive and underused: the backup shows average high-school usage of ~22 minutes/week and a 22% completion rate) and exploring lower-cost, curriculum-aligned tools such as Mote, which staff said better supports listening and speaking tasks that link directly to classroom units. They also proposed reducing the professional-learning component of the Elevation adult PD platform while retaining its data-warehouse functions, a change staff estimated would save roughly $48,000.
Committee members asked for pilot data, explicit rollout plans and cost comparisons. Staff agreed to provide additional data presentations (principals and department heads had participated in midyear data reviews) and to return with precise contract recommendations and usage-tracking plans before final procurement decisions. Committee members indicated support for options that shift time toward adult-delivered instruction in lower grades and for tools that align directly with classroom curricula.
The subcommittee did not finalize purchases during the meeting; several items were presented for referral, follow-up or placement on a future warrant for formal action.
