How to Prepare for Strong Adoptions: 2025 Workshop Reflections

Takeaways from the 2025 CalCurriculum Math Adoption Workshop Series

With the anticipated release of the final math program recommendations this coming November by the State Board of Education, we know that many districts across California have adoptions front of mind as they look ahead to the next school year. Between January and May of 2025, we had the honor of partnering with over 250 educators from 47 districts and charters across the state in a workshop series to prepare for leading strong adoption processes. As we’ve shared in our Math Framework Hub, there are several action steps you can begin engaging in now, ahead of the state list release, as you prepare to set the foundation for the adoption of high-quality instructional materials.

Begin with Reflection

As you prepare to lead an adoption process, it’s important for you and your team to first begin with a reflection on your past adoption experiences. What worked well? What were the challenges? What do you hope to improve on and accomplish through your upcoming process? 

One way we supported participants in this reflection was through engaging with one of the case studies from our publication “Lessons from Implementing Middle School Math Instructional Materials.” Through these relatable experiences of four districts and charters, teams can reflect on and discuss how these case studies align with your own experiences, as well as what you want to include in your own upcoming adoption or implementation plans . The guiding discussion questions from the “Need” Indicator section of our adapted Hexagon Tool can also be a helpful reflection guide on your past adoption process and the needs of your context.

Set Your Instructional Vision

As we’ve shared in the past, an instructional vision is a critical foundational guidepost for your adoption process: it articulates what you want teaching and learning to look like in a particular content area, and should serve as your “north star” in guiding your materials review. This resource from EdReports can support your team with how to articulate an instructional vision. 

In our workshop series this past spring, teams spent a full day together crafting, refining, and iterating on their math instructional visions based on professional learning around the California Math Framework, diving into the components of high-quality instructional materials, and their own district context and aspirations.

Analyze Your Data to Understand Priorities

After setting their instructional visions, teams spent our next session analyzing district-specific data to uncover priorities for adoption. Engaging with multiple types of data and at multiple levels will allow your team to make informed decisions around your adoption priorities and the instructional materials needs of your students and educators. This kind of intentional work building the foundation for your adoption takes time, but is so important to set your team up for success in selecting the right high-quality instructional materials for your context. As one participant shared:

“It is powerful that so much work goes into establishing the vision and looking at data before winnowing choices.”

If you’re looking for support with this stage of the process, we’ve written a blog with a guide around how to utilize our Data Discovery Tool with your team to inform local priorities.

Make a Professional Learning Plan

As you prepare to recruit and train your adoption committee to review materials that reflect the priorities of the Framework, it’s important to also make a plan for your committee and all educators in your district to engage in professional learning on the Framework and the markers of High-Quality Instructional Materials. Your county office or local university Math Project team is likely to be an excellent resource for you, and CalCurriculum is also here to help. As one participant shared at the end of this spring’s workshop series:

“It has provided a place to start, awareness of considerations I had not thought of, and direction for the future. I am excited to continue to participate starting in November [2025].”

Interested in getting support to prepare for your upcoming math instructional materials adoption? Check out our workshops page to learn more about our three-part professional learning series for the 2025-26 school year.