Instructional Materials

The following text was sent to publishers on December 2019.

We are currently in a district-wide adoption process for our core language arts curriculum grades K-5. Below is a Request for Information. We are not seeking to review materials for supplemental or elective programs that are not part of our core programs.

Our Adoption Committee is comprised of a representative group of community members, teachers, parents, and support specialists.  Criteria for this request have been set by the School Board (see page 2).  In addition to print materials, the committee will be considering Open Education Resources (OER). 

Considerations in reviewing materials

• The curricula are aligned to the Language Arts Common Core State Standards in English and Spanish.
• The curricula include resources and differentiation tools that address the needs of all students (multilingual students, students with IEPs, highly capable students) in a monolingual classroom and/or dual language classroom. Differentiation resources include materials for intervention and extension.
• The curricula provide systems to track student learning over time through formative and summative assessments.
• The curricula include a strong scope and sequence for foundational skills for teaching foundational skills, authentic to the language of instruction. Foundational skills teaching is grounded in researched best practices to develop phonics and phonemic awareness and include systems for progress monitoring.
• The curricula include high quality texts that represent our student population in both characters and authors.
• The curricula values authentic Spanish instruction and resources. This includes Spanish texts that support a balanced library of authentic texts from Spanish-speaking authors as well as translated texts.
• The curricula provide a variety of types of texts, including read aloud texts, shared reading texts, and independent texts. There is a balance of fiction and nonfiction texts and decodable texts to support foundational skills.
• The curricula include high-interest thematic units that are relevant to our student population that build background knowledge and vocabulary.
• The curricula highlight the importance of building cultural knowledge and the importance of building students attitudes and identities as readers, writers, and learners.
• The curricula includes a clear scope and sequence for writing instruction. Students will write for authentic purposes in the genres of narrative, informational, and opinion.
• Special consideration will be given to curricula that offers resources and materials in Vietnamese.

Who we are

Highline Public Schools serves around 18,000 students grades K-12. There are 18 elementary schools, 6 of which offer Dual Language instruction in English-Spanish, 1 of which offers Dual Language instruction in English-Vietnamese. Twenty-four percent of elementary students are enrolled in a Dual Language program. Highline’s elementary students were born in 90 different countries and speak 82 different languages. Thirty-three percent of elementary students qualify as English Language Learners. Seventeen percent of students have an IEP.

Some things you should know about our committee work and adoption process

• We are a closed district, and ask that publishing representatives not contact individual members on the committee, nor individual schools. This includes solicitations by mail, e-mail, phone, or visitations at schools. Please note that failure to comply with this request can result in having your company’s curriculum materials removed from consideration.
• The committee will use the screening tools they create to review all materials and narrow the choices to 2 finalists. We will contact the representatives of the finalists for pilot samples. Your main contact through this process will be Andrew Burgess (andrew.burgess@highlineschools.org). 

Request for Samples

• For print-based curricula: We’re requesting one set of materials for each grade level K-5. Teacher editions would suffice if they include the student edition. We are also requesting any ancillary components such as assessments, teacher guides, study guides, and other print materials.
• For materials that include online access, we will require online access to teacher and student editions and other digital resources that accompany the curriculum according to the timeline below.
• Please include a list of materials that are available in other languages, such as Spanish or Vietnamese, if any.
• Where possible, please send materials with the least amount of packaging. We would prefer not to receive display boxes of materials for each grade as we do not have the space to store this.
• Due to space limitations in our district office, we would prefer if you send the sample curriculum materials combined together in one single pallet shipment.
• We are only reviewing materials that will be available for use and/or purchase by June, 2020.
• If your curriculum is chosen for a pilot, we will request additional samples.
• Send online access directions to andrew.burgess@highlineschools.org 

In addition to the specific information and considerations listed above, the following criteria, from Highline’s Board Procedure 2020 apply to the selection of all core instructional material.

Criteria for Selection of Core Instructional Materials

Core instructional materials shall be selected based upon the degree to which they:

1. Demonstrate likelihood of impact as shown by scientific or evidence-based research;
2. Enable implementation of the district’s developed goals and priorities and meet state standards and College Readiness requirements;
3. Provide sufficient flexibility to meet the varied needs and abilities of the students served;
4. Provide clear and appropriate differentiation components for English Language Learners, students who qualify for special education, students with academic opportunity gaps, and students identified as highly capable;
5. Where appropriate, present balanced but differing views of issues, controversial or otherwise, in order that students may develop critical analysis and informed decision-making skills;
6. Demonstrate consideration of appropriate format(s) (including technological, visual, and/or auditory components);
7. Support an equitable access to learning and learning materials for all students; including the provision of appropriate, high-quality accessible instructional materials to all students with disabilities who require them; and
8. Are free of stereotyping and gender, race, class, and other forms of bias, recognizing that under certain circumstances biased materials may serve as appropriate resources to present contrasting and differing points of view, and biased materials may be employed in order to teach students about bias, stereotyping, and propaganda in historical or contemporary contexts. The Washington Models for the Evaluation of Bias Content in Instructional Materials, published by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) should be consulted in the selection process to further to the goal of eliminating content bias:

https://www.k12.wa.us/CurriculumInstruct/InstructionalMaterialsReview.aspx

Timeline

Please have preview materials delivered to the shipping address below the week of January 21, 2020. Any materials received after January 21, 2020 will not be considered.

 Please have electronic access available by Tuesday, January 21.

Shipping

Please send your preview materials to:
Attn: Erika Calhoun & Jami Haskin
Highline Public Schools: Maywood Center
1410 S. 200th St.
SeaTac, WA 98148

• Adina Thea, Administrator
• Alexandria Haas, Administrator
• Amy McManamon, Teacher
• Angela Hays, Teacher
• Caitlyn McGuire, Specialist
• Catherine Gustafson, Teacher
• Daniel Ervin, Specialist
• Diana Goo, Teacher
• Emma Caro Bernal, Teacher
• Jaymie Baunach, Teacher
• Katie Sachter, Specialist
• Kevin Garber, Teacher
• Laura Ranking, Specialist
• Lauren Monroe, Specialist
• Marci McNaghten, Teacher
• Nora Duarte, Teacher
• Sandra Aguila Salinas, Teacher
• Sarah Wix, Teacher
• Shajaira Lopez, Administrator

 

In late January 2020, the Elementary Language Arts Adoption Committee selected the following materials for final review.

• American Reading Company
• ReadyGEN by Pearson

• Due to the closure of school buildings since March, the timeline for the Language Arts adoption has been extended
• Pilots of materials, across program types, are anticipating to take place in the fall 2020
• A recommendation to the board is anticipated for the end of January 2021, which will still support early purchase of materials, and planning for the following school year

The following text was sent to publishers on January 2020.

We are currently in a district-wide adoption process for our core language arts curriculum grades 6-12. Below is a Request for Information for language arts curriculum grades 6-12. We are not seeking to review materials for supplemental or elective programs that are not part of our core programs.

Our Adoption Committee is comprised of a representative group of community members, teachers, parents, and support specialists.  Criteria for this request have been set by the School Board (see page 2).  In addition to print materials, the committee will be considering Open Education Resources (OER).

Considerations in reviewing materials

• The curricula reflect and support all ELA CCSS- reading fiction and nonfiction, writing (explanatory, argumentative, narrative), speaking/listening, and language standards.

• The curricula allow for complex texts that consider critical literacy, social justice, and resistance lenses in texts (both historical and contemporary) through an examination of “hard, difficult, and unpopular” fiction and non-fiction and should include materials that are both local and global (and ranges in between).

• The curricula must be culturally responsive and present a range of authors’ cultural perspectives, identities, positionalities, and experiences.

• The curricula provides complex texts that allow teachers to assess student analysis in reading & writing, and give students opportunities to discuss complex ideas.

• The curricula must be accessible and appropriately challenging to all students providing differentiation in language learning and text complexity.

• The curricula enables connections to the real world and provides tasks that matter to students (real-world applications and allowing cross-curricular connections for success after/out of school).

• The curricula exemplifies the tenets of a universally designed classroom (UDL), allowing for flexibility and choice in the text selection, as well as text formats (audio, video, written, art, etc.).

• A curriculum submission provides tools for measuring growth, both formatively & summatively towards achieving proficiency on all CCSS.

Who we are

Highline Public Schools serves around 19,000 students grades K-12. There are nine comprehensive middle and high schools, four choice secondary schools, and six alternative education programs. Approximately 22% of our students district wide are identified as English Language Learners, 14% are identified in Special Education, 4% are identified as Highly Capable.

 Some things you should know about our committee work and adoption process

• We are a closed district, and ask that publishing representatives not contact individual members on the committee, nor individual schools. This includes solicitations by mail, e-mail, phone, or visitations at schools. Please note that failure to comply with this request can result in having your company’s curriculum materials removed from consideration.
• The committee will use the screening tools they create to review all materials and narrow the choices to 2 finalists. We will contact the representatives of the finalists for pilot samples. Your main contact through this process will be Andrew Burgess (andrew.burgess@highlineschools.org).

Request for Samples

• For print-based curricula: We’re requesting one set of materials for each grade level 6-12. Teacher editions would suffice if they include the student edition. We are also requesting any ancillary components such as assessments, teacher guides, study guides, and other print materials.
• For materials that include online access, we will require online access to teacher and student editions and other digital resources that accompany the curriculum according to the timeline below.
• Please include a list of materials that are available in other languages, such as Spanish or Vietnamese, if any.
• Where possible, please send materials with the least amount of packaging. We would prefer not to receive display boxes of materials for each grade as we do not have the space to store this.
• Due to space limitations in our district office, we would prefer if you send the sample curriculum materials combined together in one single pallet shipment.
• We are only reviewing materials that will be available for use and/or purchase by June, 2020.
• If your curriculum is chosen for a pilot, we will request additional samples.
• Send online access directions to andrew.burgess@highlineschools.org

In addition to the specific information and considerations listed above, the following criteria, from Highline’s Board Procedure 2020 apply to the selection of all core instructional material.

Criteria for Selection of Core Instructional Materials

Core instructional materials shall be selected based upon the degree to which they:

A. Demonstrate likelihood of impact as shown by scientific or evidence-based research;

B. Enable implementation of the district’s developed goals and priorities and meet state standards and College Readiness requirements;

C. Provide sufficient flexibility to meet the varied needs and abilities of the students served;

D. Provide clear and appropriate differentiation components for English Language Learners, students who qualify for special education, students with academic opportunity gaps, and students identified as highly capable;

E. Where appropriate, present balanced but differing views of issues, controversial or otherwise, in order that students may develop critical analysis and informed decision-making skills;

F. Demonstrate consideration of appropriate format(s) (including technological, visual, and/or auditory components);

G. Support an equitable access to learning and learning materials for all students; including the provision of appropriate, high-quality accessible instructional materials to all students with disabilities who require them; and

H. Are free of stereotyping and gender, race, class, and other forms of bias, recognizing that under certain circumstances biased materials may serve as appropriate resources to present contrasting and differing points of view, and biased materials may be employed in order to teach students about bias, stereotyping, and propaganda in historical or contemporary contexts. The Washington Models for the Evaluation of Bias Content in Instructional Materials, published by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) should be consulted in the selection process to further to the goal of eliminating content bias:
https://www.k12.wa.us/CurriculumInstruct/InstructionalMaterialsReview.aspx

Timeline

Please have preview materials delivered to the shipping address below the week of February 7, 2020. Any materials received after February 7, 2020 will not be considered.

Please have electronic access available by Friday, February 7, 2020.

Timeline extended to March 3, 2020

Shipping

Please send your preview materials to:
Attn: Michael Kamin & Meredith Ekeroma
℅ Jami Haskin
Highline Public Schools: Maywood Center
1410 S. 200th St.
SeaTac, WA 98148

• Alaina Lewis, Teacher
• Alexandria Smith, Teacher
• Amanda Eastgard, Teacher
• Anna Webster-Stratton, Teacher
• Bethany Plett, Specialist
• Breanna Gallagher, Teacher
• Calvin Allan, Teacher
• Chad Harper, Community Member
• Darla Stremel Hays, Teacher
• Joe Boyer, Teacher & Instructional Coach
• Karin Jones, Administrator
• Laticia Lonon, Teacher
• Michelle Thomas, Teacher
• Myke Folger, Teacher
• Nicholas Wilken, Teacher
• Reeba Rosagaron, Specialist
• Sharon Schmitt, Administrator

 

• Due to the closure of school buildings since March, the timeline for the Language Arts adoption has been extended
• Pilots of materials, across program types, are anticipating to take place in the fall 2020
• A recommendation to the board is anticipated for the end of January 2021, which will still support early purchase of materials, and planning for the following school year