Our evaluation committee including administrators, teachers, and the district language arts curriculum leader have reviewed 6 different sets of textbooks.  

The goals of purchasing a language arts textbook for the middle school are:
- to support the teachers to implement a thematic approach,
- to integrate reading, writing, speaking and thinking, and
- to offer expilicit reading and writing instruction.  

The committee reviewed the textbooks based on the quality and variety of texts, connections to other content areas, the integration of explicit writing instruction, and aligned assessments to the curriculum.  

The language arts curriculum proposed for adoption is the EL Curriculum developed by Harvard Graduate School of Education and Outward Bound USA.  The curriculum prioritizes high-quality, grade-level texts and small group instruction.  All units are aligned with our Standards of Learning.