Rialto Unified outlines K–12 math textbook adoption plan, pilots to start in August

Rialto Unified’s director of secondary math and instruction, Dr. Kevin Goodley, told the board the district has completed an initial needs assessment and applied an 81‑point vetting rubric to 64 California‑approved math resources from 29 publishers. The committee narrowed options to the top five vendors for elementary, middle and high school levels and plans public vendor presentations and two pilot cycles prior to a final recommendation.

Goodley outlined a timeline that begins with vendor presentations and public review, followed by two pilot windows (Aug. 17–Oct. 9 and Oct. 13–Dec. 11) with 60 teachers committed to piloting across grade levels and a final committee vote in January 2027. If approved by the superintendent and board, the new materials are slated for districtwide implementation in the 2027–28 school year.

Board members asked about reassessment and teacher adoption. Goodley said assessment of effectiveness will be regular: “The short answer is when you assess to see if it's working, that's consistently and monthly. It could and I would make the argument that it's not only monthly, it's weekly and daily,” and described an initial assessment plus 10‑week progress cycles and professional learning communities as part of the continuous monitoring plan.

Trustees also raised teacher buy‑in concerns; staff pointed to the pilot design that requires at least three teachers per grade level to test materials and a math department check‑in every two weeks to gather feedback. Goodley said the vetting criteria explicitly include supplemental resources, embedded tutoring, multilingual/DLI‑appropriate materials and compatibility with SBAC assessment formats.

The presentation did not request board action; trustees thanked staff and asked for continued updates, including specifics about how pilot feedback will be reported to the board and how the district will ensure teachers actually use and sustain chosen materials.