New math curriculum to be launched this school year – Most significant changes take place at middle school level

By CHRIS STUDOR

June 24 school board meeting

New mathematics textbooks for grades K-12 were adopted by the board of education, with the most significant changes taking place at the middle-school level, said Curriculum Director Laurie Boedicker.

The adoption procedure is a year-long process which includes input from all mathematics teachers in the district. Curriculum areas are reviewed and adopted every seven years in the Highland District.

“Our first step is to conduct a data review to evaluate strengths and weaknesses,” Boedicker told members of the school board. “Examples of data include i-Ready achievement data, the Ohio State Tests for mathematics, SAT growth reports and Advanced Placement results. We also included information from common assessments for some courses. We identify the priorities that will best address our needs at each level. Then we develop or modify a rubric that will help us select the best curriculum for our needs.”

Boedicker also noted that the district is “looking for a high-quality curriculum that is aligned to state standards, supports best practices in instruction as determined by current research and provides support for differentiation.” She added that this year, teachers were even more interested in the digital supplemental programs that are integrated with the math curriculum.

Professional learning and support for teachers was also considered as content was reviewed.

“Once we defined the characteristics that we need, we were able to start looking at math resources,” she said. “Investigating the materials takes the most time. There are many different developers for math curriculum but we always start with the approved textbook publishers list for Ohio. This year, we also considered reviews from EdReports to narrow the list of potential math curriculums, as these independent reviews are recommended as a resource by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.”

Digital previews were available for all teachers and principals and the district’s October 2023 Professional Development Day providing time for different vendors to present their materials. Selections were made collaboratively utilizing the rubric.

“Ultimately, our selected curriculum for mathematics represents the best choices for Highland at each level,” said Boedicker.

The following textbooks were adopted at the elementary school: Grades K-5 Envision Mathematics Mixed Common Core 7-year print/digital with Successmaker 2024, published by Savaas.

At the middle school, the following McGraw-Hill Education textbooks were adopted: Reveal Math Middle School Course 1-7 year print/digital with ALEKS 2020 (supplemental math company); Reveal Math Accelerated 7 year print/digital with ALEKS 2021; Reveal Math Course 3-7 year print/digital with ALEKS 2020; and Reveal Math Geometry 7 year print/digital with ALEKS 2020.

At the high school-level, Macmillan Publishers’ textbook, The Practice of Statistics for the AP Course 7 year print/digital 7th edition 2024, was adopted, along with Statistics and Probability With Applications 7 year print/digital 4th edition 2021.

Additionally, the following CPM (College Preparatory Math) textbooks were adopted: Core Connections, Algebra Student Hardbound with 2 year-eBook; Core Connections, Algebra 2 Student Hardbound with 2-year eBook; Core Connections, Geometry Student Hardbound with 2-year eBook.

Cenage Learning’s Precalculus with Limits 7 year print/digital edition 2022 and Calculus 7 year print/digital 12th edition 2023 were also adopted.

“The biggest change was at the middle school level,” explained Bodicker. “We changed from the Big Ideas Math to Reveal because we felt there were more resources and better support for teachers.”

Superintendent Catherine Aukerman said adopting a new textbook series is a long haul.

“We appreciate all the work the staff put in as well as the work of Laurie Bodicker,” she said.

Board President Christopher Wolny also thanked Bodicker and the staff “for putting in a huge amount of time in order to provide the best for the students of Highland.”

In other business, the board:

  • Hired Bruce Berry as the district’s new director of transportation. Berry has nine years experience with the Black River Schools.
  • Announced there will be no board meeting in the month of July due to the late June 24 meeting. The next meeting will take place Monday, Aug. 19. ∞