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New Curriculum Review: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Into Literature

September 6, 2022September 17, 2019

Are your teachers ready for new ELA materials for high school? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s (HMH) Into Literature.

Into Literature is a comprehensive literacy program that supports English language arts instruction for grades 9 through 12. Content is available in print and digital formats. Instruction develops students’ reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking skills with learning activities that provide numerous opportunities and structures for effective group and partner work.

The material integrates reading and writing instruction. An abundance of high-quality, thought provoking reading selections are provided. Text sets for each unit correlate to numerous themes and topics. Formal writing instruction occurs at the end of units and generally serves as a culminating task.

New Product: Savvas’s myPerspectives for Texas Proclamation 2020

September 6, 2022September 15, 2019

Is your district looking for a product that provides flexibility for teachers and choice for students? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of Savvas’s myPerspectives.

Savvas’s myPerspectives is an English language arts program for grades 6-12. Learning List has reviewed the materials for English I-IV. The material focuses on making learning relevant for students and on developing skills to support college and career readiness. Most lessons focus on text analysis and writing to learn and demonstrate learning.

Lessons encourage students to set goals, make choices, and reflect on their learning. Student choice is a key component of this product. Students are encouraged to make choices about reading material, writing topics, and activities. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are seamlessly and consistently integrated throughout the materials. A substantial number of resources, including texts at varying levels and numerous differentiated activities, are available to support students with specific learning needs.

What to Look (Out) For If You Are Purchasing Instructional Materials for English I-IV

August 14, 2022September 9, 2019

Stack of instructional materials; male student writing while in notebook while leaning on the stack of books.

Learning List recently completed reviews of the instructional materials submitted for state adoption in Texas for the following courses: English I-IV, Practical Writing, Reading, Journalism, English Learner Language Arts (ELLA), and College Readiness and Study Skills (CRSS).

We reviewed materials from eleven publishers for English I-IV, two publishers each for Journalism, College Readiness and Study Skills, and Practical Writing Skills, and one publisher each for Reading and ELLA (middle school). All reviews are published on the Learning List.com.

New Product Review: Edmentum’s Texas English I

September 6, 2022September 5, 2019

Does your district have students who need to work at their own pace in English? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of Edmentum’s Texas English I.

Edmentum’s Texas English I is a fully digital, comprehensive program for English I. The material provides a variety of activities to support students’ development of reading and writing skills. The goal of the program is to provide rigorous, relevant curriculum through interactive, media-rich content.

New Product Review: Edmentum’s Texas Algebra I

September 6, 2022September 4, 2019

Does your district need a fully digital, comprehensive Algebra program? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of Edmentum’s Texas Algebra I.

Edmentum Algebra I is a fully digital, comprehensive program. The goal of the program is to provide rigorous, relevant curriculum through interactive, media-rich content. The design of the program supports an independent, self-paced instructional model, but would equally support a teacher facilitated, blended model.

New Product: National Geographic/Cengage Learning’s Big Ideas Integrated Math for CCSS

September 6, 2022September 2, 2019

Is your district in need of a new material for integrated high school math courses? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning’s Big Ideas Integrated Math.

Big Ideas Integrated Math is a comprehensive high school math program, available in print and digital formats. The design of the material is consistent with the Common Core’s Integrated Pathways and is provided in three levels. Each of the three courses integrates instruction in algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics at increasingly complex levels. Big Ideas Integrated Mathorganizes instruction around major topics in mathematics, such as solving linear equations or parallel and perpendicular lines.

5 Things to Look For If Selecting Online Materials

July 15, 2022August 28, 2019

Recently, at a friend’s birthday party, the conversation quickly turned to back-to-school issues. Several friends began discussing their school district’s continuing adoption of online materials. One friend commented that when her older son’s school had moved to online materials almost exclusively last year, he did fine in his Economics class but really struggled in Physics. She told him to check out a textbook for that course, and almost immediately, his grades improved. My friends then began comparing how their children each learn and debating the relative virtues of printed versus online materials.

That conversation reminded me of the blog post we published recently about a Hechinger Report article titled, “A Textbook Dilemma: Digital or Paper?” Several of the points in this article align with distinguishing features we observe in our reviews of online materials.

Print Versus Digital Materials: What the Research Says

March 29, 2023August 23, 2019

If your district is gearing up for an adoption this year, part of your selection calculation likely will be whether to purchase print or digital/online materials. An article in the Hechinger Report titled, “A Textbook Dilemma: Digital or Paper?” may be useful.

The article discusses Patricia Alexander’s review of research on this topic. Ms. Alexander is an educational psychologist and a literacy scholar at the University of Maryland. Despite numerous (878) potentially relevant studies on the topic, Ms. Alexander pointed out that “only 36 [studies] directly compared reading in digital and in print and measured learning in a reliable way.” Despite the need for further research on this topic, Ms. Alexander found that numerous studies affirm the finding that: “if you are reading something lengthy – more than 500 words or more than a page of the book or screen – your comprehension will likely take a hit if you’re using a digital device.” This pertained to college students as well as students in elementary, middle, and high school.

Teacher Shortages

August 14, 2019

With school starting, districts across the country are scrambling to find teachers for their classrooms. Yesterday, educators and policymakers gathered in Tulsa, Oklahoma to attend the Oklahoma Teacher Pipeline Summit to discuss long-term solutions to the teacher shortage. Some of the policy-based solutions that were discussed include:

State-funded loan forgiveness, scholarships or signing bonuses for university-prepared teachers who commit to working in a public school;
State funded paid student teacher internships;
University-created courses to prepare future educators for subject specific knowledge (e.g., the Tulsa University is creating a STEM minor for future teachers), pedagogical knowledge, and skills educators need to support today’s students, including courses in childhood trauma.

An interim legislative study on policy solutions to address teacher shortages is anticipated.

New Product: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Into Literature for High School ELA (CCSS)

July 15, 2022August 12, 2019

Are your teachers ready for new ELA materials for high school? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Into Literature.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Into Literature is a comprehensive literacy program that supports English language arts instruction for grades 9 through 12. Content is available in print and digital formats. Instruction develops students’ reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking skills with learning activities that provide numerous opportunities and structures for effective group and partner work.

Into Literature integrates reading and writing instruction. The program provides an abundance of high-quality, thought provoking reading selections. Text sets for each unit correlate to numerous themes and topics. Formal writing instruction occurs at the end of units and generally serves as a culminating task.

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