California and Texas have long been two of the most important markets in the country for curriculum adoption, in large part because of the huge number of K-12 students in each state.
But there’s another reason both states have been so influential: Education companies could count on stability in their adoption cycles.
Not so much anymore, says a former executive from one of the big ed-tech publishers.
“What used to characterize California and Texas is order and certainty,” said Jeff Livingston, a former McGraw-Hill executive who founded the K-12 market intelligence nonprofit the Center for Education Market Dynamics.
“In the past, you could plan the financing of your organization around the certainty of adoptions in those states. That certainty has been diminishing in recent years to an enormous degree.”
Texas recently revamped its entire adoption process, injecting a level of unpredictability around the review and approval of materials, and potentially disrupting traditional buying patterns among districts in the state.
In addition, the state is now competing directly with publishers by producing its own curriculum in certain high-demand subjects like English Language arts and mathematics.
In California, which has more than 5 million K-12 students, a long-awaited math adoption has been delayed by several years, first by the Covid-19 pandemic and later by controversy surrounding the state’s new math framework.
After much debate, the California State Board of Education voted to adopt a new math framework in the summer of 2023. The previous mathematics framework had been in place since 2013.
The 1,000-page framework aims to promote a focus on problem-solving and applying math knowledge to real-world situations. It also encourages teachers to make math culturally relevant and accessible for all students, especially students of color who have been traditionally marginalized in the subject.
California is now preparing for a math adoption in November, which means there will be a new chance for vendors to get on the state’s list of approved materials.
Approved vendor lists are typically an effort by states to streamline decision making for school districts, signaling that a provider’s materials are aligned with state standards. Securing a spot on that list can put a vendor ahead when bidding for a contract with a district.
In the past, it’s been important for education publishers to get to it onto the state’s list of approved instructional materials. But now — with the end of federal stimulus funding and renewed uncertainty about federal funding for districts — it is “vital,” said Livingston.
Getting on the “state adoption list can be a lifeline to an instructional materials provider seeking the certainty of dedicated funds,” he said.
Integration, Not Isolation
Some districts in California are not waiting for the state to put out an approved list to adopt a new math curriculum.
Livingston’s market intelligence firm, CEMD, sized up the landscape of California for math adoption in a recent report that found 13 districts across the state had recently purchased new math resources.
“It’s been the districts that have large sources of revenue … that have the privilege of doing that,” Livingston said. “I’m hopeful the state will complete its adoption process because not every district is in a position to do that.”
California school systems are eager to get new math instructional materials in the hands of teachers, and most are waiting for the state to approve a new list, said Morgan Sheppard, project Management Systems & Operations Manager at UnboundEd, which designs professional learning for educators.
What we’re really hearing across the board broadly is that [California] districts are waiting to see what’s on the list.
Morgan Sheppard, UnboundEd
Sheppard leads a project for UnboundEd, a professional learning provider that partners with EdReports, an organization that review curriculum; and a group called the California Curriculum Collaborative that helps districts adopt and implement instructional materials.
She said that a large majority of school systems in a cohort of 47 districts and charter schools that recently started a professional learning series with CalCurriculum are planning to buy new math curriculum next school year or the year after.
“What we’re really hearing across the board broadly is that districts are waiting to see what’s on the list,” she said.
The criteria state officials are looking for when adopting materials in terms of standards alignment has “slightly shifted” with the approval of a new math framework in 2023, Sheppard said. Now, there’s a “big emphasis on integrating the standards around the key big ideas from the framework, rather than teaching them in isolation,” she said.
California is also putting a focus on providing more support for multilingual learners.
“That is an important part of the new criteria map that the reviewers will be looking at when they’re reviewing materials for the state adoption list,” Sheppard said.
When California adopts a new list of approved materials, it could include more publishers and products than normal, said Sara Murphy, another project management systems & operations manager at UnboundEd who helps districts adopt academic resources. There has been an increase in the number of standards-aligned materials, she said.
And districts appear to be doing things differently this cycle compared to the last math adoption more than a decade ago, Murphy said. School systems are “taking their time to lead processes again,” she said, and are likely to ask publishers for more information about product alignment with district-level rubrics.”
“They’re really bringing in the shareholders across the district into the adoption process,” Murphy said, “so that whatever is ultimately adopted is reflective of the needs of the community at this time.”
“So education companies will need to build relationships with districts so that districts can ask questions and get more information.”