Chandler school board learns about K-5 math curriculum
Courtesy of Chandler USD
Chandler Unified elementary students work on a math assignment in class. CUSD leadership and instructional coaches have selected a curriculum called i-Ready that will cost the district more than $4 million over its six-year adoption.
A Chandler Unified administrator said all the elements of a K-5 math curriculum adoption are tied into the district’s Journey to Excellence master plan.
Dr. Jessica Edgar, the district’s assistant superintendent of pre-K-12 teaching and learning, led off a thorough presentation at a Nov. 12 study session where she and others announced plans to adopt a specific company’s math curriculum.
The district wants to select a curriculum called i-Ready, made by a company called Curriculum Associates. The curriculum was chosen after a lengthy process.
The chosen recommendation, i-Ready, was only presented to the board for information at the Nov. 12 meeting, with a 60-day public review period up next and a planned board vote on a six-year adoption of i-Ready at its Feb. 11 meeting.
The average yearly cost to the district for i-Ready is estimated at about $675,000 for Chandler’s 31 K-5 schools. The six-year adoption cost is estimated to be about $4.044 million.
Edgar explained the selection is only for a tier 1 classroom tool. That means it’s a curriculum used in the classroom, as opposed to materials used with special interventions.
“i-Ready will be for tier 1 for grades K-5,” Edgar said. “That means it’s used in the classroom, during regular instructional time, and everyone has access to that tier 1 piece.”
Edgar, her assistant and a pair of math academic coaches presented the district’s “Request for Information,” which went out to creator companies that make elementary school math instructional materials, which led to a CUSD evaluation process of the proposals that came into the district.
Each of the presenters talked about an element of newer math learning strategies.
Edgar said one emphasis of the request for information was moving from a teacher-centered to a student-centered curriculum.
“We want the students to go home exhausted,” Edgar said, referring to encouraging young learners to use their minds vigorously on math exercises. “The cognitive load that they are hopefully using in the classroom, with some of these new strategies, our teachers need a resource that supports that.”
The process involved the request for information being sent to vendors July 31, followed by a two-phase review process of proposals that culminated in a Sept. 11 “release day,” according to a staff report, where i-Ready and McGraw Hill’s “Reveal Math” were chosen as finalists.
A third, thorough evaluation phase of the two products resulted in i-Ready scoring slightly higher, using a points system.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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