The Marblehead School Committee approved adoption of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s English 3D curriculum for grades 7–12 as the district’s high-school and middle-school program for English learners, responding to a DESE Tiered Focus Monitoring recommendation.

Office of Teaching and Learning staff said the district selected the program after months of curriculum review, teacher piloting and consultation with neighboring districts. Committee members and staff said the chosen materials emphasize linguistically and culturally sustaining pedagogy, leverage multilingual students’ strengths, and include professional development and digital materials as part of the purchase. The district noted that it will implement the materials at the start of the next school year and that vendor-supported PD is included in the funding package.

Why it matters: DESE identified inconsistent curriculum supports across proficiency levels at the secondary level; adopting English 3D is intended to provide coherent, evidence-based materials to support ELs’ access to rigorous course content and progression toward exiting EL services.

Fiscal and operational notes: The district budgeted for required materials and PD; Title III federal funds were noted as a recurring district funding source for EL work. The district reported about 17 English learners currently enrolled and that Shelly Burns, the EL coordinator, will continue program oversight and parent advisory work (ELPAC).

Vote: The committee approved the curriculum adoption by roll-call vote, 4–0.

Ending: Staff will implement the curriculum, schedule vendor PD and monitor outcomes; the committee asked for periodic updates on EL student progress and program implementation.