Seattle Public Schools

Curriculum Adoption

2017 Middle School Math

School Board Unanimously Approves Adoption ofenVision math 2.0

At the March 7, 2018 School Board meeting, the Board voted to approveenVisionmath2.0 as the official instructional material for middle school math instruction beginning in the 2018-2019 school year. TheenVision curriculum is standards-aligned, offers a mix of conceptual and procedural learning, and has excellent supports for students working at all levels.

Adoption Process

The process to select new instructional materials for middle school math began in February 2017 with the issuing of a Request for Proposals and the formation of an adoption committee. Vendors submitted proposals for 11 different instructional materials in March 2017 for review:

  1. Big Ideas
  2. Connected Mathematics Project 3(CMP3)
  3. Core Focus on Math
  4. enVisionmath2.0
  5. Eureka Math
  6. Glencoe Math
  7. Glencoe Math with Aleks
  8. Go Math
  9. I-Ready
  10. Math in Focus
  11. Open-Up Math

Glencoe Math with Aleks and I-Readyexceeded the budget limits and were not reviewed for content or cultural responsiveness in Stage 1.

Stage 1: March – June 2017

To help inform the work of the adoption committee, a ‘needs assessment’ survey was sent to SPS families and teachers. It was clear that both the community and teaching staff had similar goals for middle school instructional materials: 

  • Flexibility for teachers, students, and families
  • Alignment to state standards
  • Inclusion of facts and procedures along with opportunities for students to explore and make meaning of the math.

The adoption committee, comprised of teachers, staff, and community members, met on six occasions between March and June of 2017. Major activities of the committee in Stage 1 included:

  • Developing evaluation criteria for review of materials.
  • Reviewing submitted programs using the committee’s screening tool.
  • Reviewing and incorporating community feedback on each program.
  • Eliminating from consideration all programs determined to fail the required SPS Anti-Bias Screener.
  • Using the selection criteria to select two programs (enVisionandGlencoe) to move forward to Stage 2.

Stage 2: August-November 2017

Stage 2 of the adoption process, usually referred to as the Pilot Stage or Pilot Program, consisted of a field test of theenVision andGlencoeinstructional materials and online components. To gather information regarding the effectiveness and use of each instructional material, the adoption coordinators developed assessments to measure student academic growth towards mastery of standards, conducted classroom observations, surveyed pilot teachers, and held panel discussions with students. In addition, a second round of Family and Community Feedback was gathered, with materials from the two pilot curricula on display for community review in five schools throughout the district.

Recommendation Finalized: November-January 2018

At the end of the pilot period, the Adoption Committee met two additional times to review all feedback and data from the pilot. Based on this feedback and data, as well as a final review of both textbooks by committee members, the committee reached unanimous agreement to recommendenVision for adoption by the School Board. On January 4, 2018, the adoption process was validated by the Instructional Materials Committee.

School Board Approval

Final approval by the School Board required a series of intermediate steps:

  • January – Board Action Report is circulated for internal approval.
  • February 6, 2018 – Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee meeting to review the Board Action Report. Committee recommended approval by the School Board.
  • February 13, 2018 – The recommendation was introduced at the School Board meeting. Public comments were heard and Board members provided feedback and asked for follow-up clarification.
  • March 7, 2018 – The Board voted unanimously to approve the adoption.

Implementation

The new instructional materials are scheduled to be used starting in the 2018-2019 school year with continued use through 2027. In the Spring of 2018 the adoption coordinators developed plans for teacher professional development in the use of the new materials, including up to three days of training before the start of the 2018-2019 school year.

Contact us

Adoption Coordinators
Anna Box
Math Program Manager

Adoption Committee Members

Adoption Meeting Notes