Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: How is CURATE different from EdReports?

A: Our panels use EdReports findings whenever possible as a trusted source of evidence in their reviews; however, CURATE builds on EdReports' work in three main ways: (a) CURATE focuses on Massachusetts standards, which are related but not identical to the standards EdReports uses; (b) CURATE incorporates input from educators with experience implementing the specific products under review; and (c) CURATE places particular emphasis on supports for multilingual learners, diversity of representation in texts, and other aspects of accessibility, usability, and equity.

Q: With the updates to CURATE in SY25, is EdReports still the gateway evaluator?

A: EdReports is one of many gateway evaluators for CURATE and remains an approved gateway evaluator for ELA/Literacy, mathematics, and science curricular products. Other content areas, such as Digital Literacy/Computer Science and History/Social Science, have other approved gateway evaluators for CURATE.

Gateway evaluators are trusted and reliable independent third parties that facilitate a robust, transparent, independent, and educator-driven or research-based review processes to provide ratings of widely used curricular materials, along with clear and comprehensive rationales for those ratings.

Q: EdReports has put a hold on their evaluations. Has there been any conversations about "fast tracking" existing programs with newer copyrights? Publishers usually release enhancements every three years.

A: To qualify for a CURATE review, submitted products must have met a threshold of quality though a review process completed prior to CURATE's (see Our CURATE Process). For "enhanced" editions or iterations of a product that was previously CURATE reviewed, publishers may provide the CURATE report to serve as the gateway review to establish meeting the threshold. In such cases, the publisher must explicitly articulate the nature of the "enhancements" and provide as an appendix how the "enhanced" product addresses "challenges" or "areas for growth" that were noted in the most current CURATE report for the product. "Enhanced" products will undergo a full panel review with the current CURATE rubric and may result in similar and/or different ratings for the product.

This option does not apply to products that have been "enhanced" through substantive changes to content or are new editions, which must establish meeting the gateway threshold for alignment to college- and career-ready standards through a robust, transparent, independent third-party review. For details, please see the RFR (Attachment A) on COMMBUYS.

Q: How do you decide which products CURATE panels review?

A: Publishers opt in for a CURATE review by responding to a no-cost bid on COMMBUYS, the Commonwealth's official procurement record system. To qualify for review, submitted products must be designed for comprehensive core curriculum, as opposed to supplemental or intervention programs, and they must demonstrate alignment to college- and career-ready standards as determined by a robust, transparent, independent, and educator-driven or research-based third-party review completed prior to CURATE's.

Q: What do CURATE panels look for in the products they review?

A: Our CURATE rubrics are unique to Massachusetts and include two domains. Standards Alignment focuses on the expectations set by the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for what students should know and be able to do by the end of each grade. Classroom Application focuses on how products actually work in classrooms: their accessibility for diverse students, their usability for busy teachers, and any available research on their impact.

Q: How are CURATE panelists selected, trained, and supported in their work?

A: Our CURATE Fellows, all current classroom teachers of record in Massachusetts, undergo a rigorous selection process involving both written applications and interviews. We value deep knowledge of relevant content and English language development standards (WIDA) and content pedagogy, as well as diversity of experience and expertise. During nine hours of initial training, Fellows internalize the CURATE rubrics, practice coming to consensus, build personal relationships, and begin their independent reviews. At these and subsequent panel meetings, they work with a facilitator charged with guiding their discussion, a report writer from our vendor-partner responsible for documenting decisions and evidence, and a DESE content expert supporting understanding of the standards and rubric. Fellows receive a base stipend for the training, additional compensation for each product they review, and PDPs.

Q: What determines when a CURATE report will be archived?

A: CURATE reports will be archived for the following reasons:

1. Rubric Version: The curricular product was reviewed with a pre-August 2021 or older CURATE rubric, so the report is outdated.
2. Newer Reports: The newest edition of a curricular product was reviewed and has a published CURATE report.
3. Report Publication Year: It has been five years since the CURATE report for the product was published, though the product itself may be older than five years.

Local education agencies (LEAs) intending to make new adoptions are encouraged to consider products from the publisher that have more current reports, to ensure selected products will not be out-of-date and will continue to be supported by the publisher during LEAs' intended period of early implementation.

Q: Will you please clarify the change to reviews of Open Educational Resources (OER)?

A: Beginning with SY25, CURATE reviews and reports for open educational resources (OER) are of only the base program from the original publisher. Other certified versions are available from distribution partners who provide access to the materials through flexible digital formats and/or print resources to meet diverse school and district needs. The content of the student and teacher materials are the same across certified versions and do not affect the indicators evaluated by the CURATE rubric in Standards Alignment. When considering Classroom Application in their evaluation and selection of OER products, local education agencies should consider their local assets, needs, and priorities to explore distribution partner websites for product specifications and other information that might impact user experience during implementation of the adopted materials. CURATE reports will note when a product is an open educational resource with certified versions / distributors.

Q: What is the process for submitting a new copyright to be reviewed of a program that has already been reviewed by CURATE?

A: A previous CURATE "overall" rating of Meets Expectations or Partially Meets Expectations doesn't automatically transfer to a new edition or copyright. Publishers wishing to submit a new edition or copyright for a product that was previously CURATE-reviewed must do so under the current CURATE process. The current rubric will be used for a full panel review of the new edition.

Q: How does CURATE incorporate evidence of impact on student learning?

A: The Impact on Learning criterion was designed to communicate information about a specific product's efficacy based on meeting established criteria. Beginning with SY25, narrative information is provided for Impact on Learning, to include one or more of the following pieces of information, as available and applicable to the product reviewed:

• Whether the product demonstrates (or not) alignment to research-based practices, per the CURATE review.
• Whether there's research that demonstrates substantive positive impact on student learning, as submitted by the publisher and determined by DESE.
• Whether resources (or additional resources) are submitted by the publisher on the product's efficacy for the grade span reviewed.

Q: I am using a product rated Partially Meets Expectations by CURATE. Should I stop?

A: Not necessarily. Because CURATE reviews only products already vetted by EdReports or a similar review process, CURATE ratings identify differences among a generally solid subset of products on the market. Accordingly, our rubrics explain that a rating of Partially Meets Expectations signals that "teachers in Massachusetts would benefit from having these materials but need to supplement or adapt them substantively to serve their students well." Do consider carefully whether adequate and appropriate supplementation and adaptation is taking place in your context.

Q: Without the overall rating, how will "high quality" status be determined?

A: High-quality curricular materials exhibit a coherent sequence of lessons that target learning of grade-appropriate skills and knowledge through instructional strategies that are well supported by research and other characteristics, such as engaging content and inclusive design. Some factors in quality are nonnegotiable, while others vary by context: for example, compatibility with a district's technology infrastructure or cultural relevance to its student population. Local education agencies should investigate the details in CURATE reports to determine which of the available standards-aligned products is the "strong horse" — not "imagined unicorn" — for —their local needs and priorities.

The Department uses the "high quality" rating of comprehensive core curricular materials to establish prerequisites for grant program participation, promote HQIM adoption, support HQIM implementation, and monitor progress towards goals specific to the Department's Educational Vision, Strategic Objective 2: Promote deeper learning so that all students engage in grade-level work that is real world, relevant, and interactive.

Q: What does a rating of N/A for Foundational Skills mean for a K–5 ELA/Literacy product?

A: A rating of N/A for Foundational Skills means that the curricular product is without foundational skills and must be paired with a strong foundational skills resource to address all components of the core literacy block.

Q: Is an ELA/Literacy core program not "high quality" if it has a rating other than Meets Expectations for Foundational Skills?

A: A rating other than Meets Expectations for Foundational Skills does not necessarily mean the product is not high quality. High-quality instructional materials in grades K–5 language arts can be realized in these ways:

• A single, comprehensive core program that addresses all components of the literacy block and is high quality across the board
• A high-quality comprehension and writing program that does not include foundational skills, paired with a strong foundational skills resource, such as Appleseeds . Together this high-quality package will address all components of the literacy block.
• A comprehensive core program that is high quality in addressing comprehension and writing but has lower-quality foundational skills. In this case, the foundational skills component must be removed and replaced with a strong foundational skills resource, such as Appleseeds , creating a high-quality package.

Q: If a CURATE report for a product is archived, does that mean the materials are no longer "high quality"?

A: An archived CURATE report communicates that the report is outdated. If the publisher determines it makes sense for them, they may choose to resubmit the same edition of their product for a full panel re-review using the most current rubric, which may result in similar and/or different ratings for the product.

Ratings that result in a specific edition of a curricular product identified as being "high quality" is not meant to live into perpetuity. As recommended best practice to support continuous improvement, local education agencies (LEAs) should establish a curriculum review cycle and routinely evaluate their current materials to assess and determine the extent to which the products are still well serving and strongly supporting students. LEAs intending to make new adoptions should consider materials with more current reports.

Q: Once archived, will programs still be considered "high quality" for the purposes of DESE grants?

A: The archiving of CURATE reports communicates that a CURATE report is outdated. Local education agencies (LEAs) considering new adoptions should consider products with more current reports. While the "high quality" status of a specific edition of a product does not live into perpetuity, LEAs implementing a product that received a previous "overall" CURATE rating of Meets Expectations or Partially Meets Expectations will still be eligible for DESE grants to support skillful implementation. We may in the future restrict grant funding of new adoptions and implementation support to products that are not on the archived reports list.

Q: If a school/district adopts a product that does not yet have a CURATE report but does have one from EdReports or other approved gateway evaluations, will they still be eligible for grants?

A: The Department prioritizes CURATE reviews to identify high-quality curricular products based upon alignment to Massachusetts college- and career-ready standards. For the purpose of public reporting and grants, products that have not yet been CURATE reviewed are "high quality" if they have an EdReports rating of "Green" / "Meets Expectations" in both Gateway 1 and Gateway 2. Note that while we might approve EdReports or other approved gateway ratings for a grant prerequisite, we may hold a higher standard for materials that would be available for purchase using grant funds.

Q: Is our school/district affected by having adopted a product with an archived report?

A: A local education agency that is implementing a product that is now on the archived CURATE reports list is not necessarily affected. An archived CURATE report communicates that the report is outdated. If the publisher determines it makes sense for them, they may choose to resubmit the same edition of their product for a full panel re-review using the most current rubric, which may result in similar and/or different ratings for the product.

Local education agencies intending to make new adoptions, however, are encouraged to consider products that have more current reports. To support continuous improvement, it is recommended best practice for schools/districts to routinely evaluate the quality of their curricular materials to determine the extent to which their current materials are still well serving and strongly supporting all students.

Q. What's the future of CURATE? Will you be evaluating new editions and versions of products as they are released? What about other subject areas and grade spans?

A: For the foreseeable future, CURATE will continue to review submitted qualifying products. We consider local education agencies' interests and publisher submissions to determine which content panels and grade spans to convene.

Q: Is there any public place that districts can share what they find successful/challenging when implementing high-quality instructional materials (HQIM)? That information is important and difficult to gather.

A: CURATE incorporates input from Massachusetts teachers with experience implementing the specific product under review when available and shares publisher information about the specific product in every published CURATE report. We recognize that variability in school/district context influences the specific successes and challenges they experience during implementation of high-quality instructional materials; the Department's Curriculum Data Collection Report exists not only to support understanding of the curricular materials being used in Massachusetts but also to encourage cross-LEA learning and collaboration among those using the same HQIM or who are further along in implementing HQIM.

Additionally, the Leaders Networks offered by the Center for Instructional Support provide opportunities to connect, collaborate, and learn with and from other educators from across the Commonwealth who also may be implementing high-quality instructional materials. Explore the Department's Catalog of Aligned Supports for information about these networks and other instructional support resources.

Q: How can I get involved with CURATE?

A: There are three main ways educators can support and/or get involved with the CURATE project.

• The CURATE project is continuously looking for educators who want to become Fellows. If you are passionate about equity and ensuring access to high-quality, standards-aligned PK–12 digital literacy/computer science, ELA/literacy, history and social science, mathematics, and science & technology/engineering curricular materials for Massachusetts students and educators, explore the qualification requirements and complete this interest form to be notified when applications open.
• The Department seeks the input of educators with experience implementing the specific products under review to incorporate into CURATE reports. If your school or district receives a request to provide implementation feedback to support our panels' reviews of Classroom Application, please complete and submit the survey.
• All educators can help the CURATE project by reporting or updating their district's curriculum using provided Curriculum Data Collection instructions. This helps the CURATE team identify local educations agencies using the curriculum under review teacher survey outreach. For questions about the Curriculum Data Collection, Curriculum Data Report, or Curriculum Data Dashboard, email Craig Waterman .