Curriculum Adoption and Launch Cohort Year 1 Reflection

During the 2024-2025 school year, UnboundEd led three school districts in Year 1 of a two-year grant dedicated to supporting school districts in California in adopting and launching high-quality instructional materials. This cohort, consisting of Dixon USD, Jefferson ESD, and Vallejo City USD, finished Year 1 of their learning in June 2025.

In fall 2024 and early winter 2025, the cohort engaged in professional learning with the UnboundEd Curriculum Adoption Team. They worked on developing a district-wide instructional vision for mathematics, conducting a district needs assessment, creating a district-specific rubric to review instructional materials, and planning for and executing a comprehensive process to examine these materials closely. This process also involved gathering feedback and input from careholders across the district, such as teachers, students, and families. The cohort engaged in virtual and in-person professional learning sessions on these topics, collaborating with the UnboundEd Curriculum Adoption Team to lead a process grounded in change management best practices.  

Districts led their curriculum adoption teams through materials investigation and made their final curriculum decision in spring 2025 while engaging in sessions led by the UnboundEd Curriculum Implementation team on the launch of materials. The cohort collaborated with the Curriculum Implementation team and participated in learning walks and professional learning on best practices for launching instructional materials. Year 1 of the cohort concluded in June 2025, and Year 2 is kicking off now, in August 2025.

Danielle Brever, Vallejo City Unified School District’s Instructional Reform Coordinator, shared that the UnboundEd Curriculum Adoption and Launch cohort “has been a valuable resource to support our planning of our pilot process, determining our district vision and goals around mathematics instruction and ideas for ensuring equitable access for all staff and students when it comes to high-quality materials…The resources help keep us on track and offer transparency to all.” When asked to describe their experience in the cohort, district leaders used words like “valuable”, “safe,” and “engaging,” among others.

UnboundEd is excited to continue working with Cohort 1 in Year 2 and to launch Cohort 2 with a new group of districts from across California in August 2025.