by Bob Berkman
August 28, 2024
Adoption States Employ Aggressive Policies, New Instructional Strategies, and Curriculum Overhauls to Improve Student Proficiency
Rockville MD, August 28, 2024 – According to Simba’s new 2023 National Instructional Materials Adoption Scorecard and Outlook to 2027, the 2023-2024 instructional materials adoption marketplace showed educators struggling to recapture the pre-pandemic levels of student achievement. Learning losses weigh heavily, and each component of public education, especially curricula for an updated science of reading policy, new math instruction frameworks, and other updated curricula requirements are being reset to improve student learning.
Assessments of student proficiency continue to show poor performance in essential reading skills. National and state tests of reading skills are widely publicized, and educators face considerable pressure to turn the situation around.
States are responding through updated literacy policies with new teeth, including mandates that specify pedagogy, instructional approaches, teacher training and curricula. Science of reading-based instruction and curricula have diffused widely throughout the adoption states. Publishers with aligned products can benefit from the intense focus on foundational reading skills.
In addition, states are adopting reading intervention materials to address students with persistent learning losses. Curricula that centers on the phonics component of science of reading-based instruction was present in several English language arts adoptions in this cycle.
In tandem with the focus on literacy and reading skills, cursive handwriting instruction, associated with improved literacy and thinking skills, is trending now. The South Carolina ELA adoption included handwriting instruction for grades two and three, and Oklahoma recently passed legislation to require that handwriting be taught in the state’s schools.
Student performance on reading assessments has been sluggish, but math assessments are often even worse. Low math performance tends to be especially pronounced in specific demographic groups, especially for Hispanic and Black students and low-income students.
California’s launch of a new math framework in 2023 sparked new debates around math instruction in the context of equity-driven education. The state’s upcoming math adoption in 2025 will draw further attention to this core instruction area, and fuel similar activity in other states.
The new Simba report examines several major 2023-2024 adoptions: K-12 Science in Texas and Florida; ELA in South Carolina and Indiana; and K-12 Math in Oklahoma. Top performers across those adoptions were Savvas and McGraw Hill. Publishers in the second tier included Accelerate Learning, HMH, Summit K12, Cengage and Great Minds.
For 2024-2025, several major states have materials under review. Those include K-12 ELA and Reading Intervention in Florida, K-5 ELA and Reading in Texas, and K-12 Math in Texas. There will also be ELA adoptions underway in Idaho, Louisiana, Virginia and Oregon.
In 2025-2026, the California Math adoption will be a significant event, while Social Studies will be on the calendar for Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Computer Science and Math will be an important curriculum adoption area in 2026-2027, and ELA curricula will feature prominently during the 2027-2028 adoptions.
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