Materials Adoption and MLLs: A Video Clip of Fresno County Department of Education

In this video, Meagan Thompson of the Fresno County Office of Education shares how she stepped into a strategic support role to guide districts through a thoughtful, vision-driven curriculum adoption process. By identifying district needs and leveraging trusted partners across her network, including UnboundEd and ELSF, Meagan helped create a phased approach that centered clarity, coherence, and student success from the start.

In Phase One, UnboundEd supported districts in grounding their work in their own data and the California framework, helping teams build a clear, shared vision before ever opening a textbook. This foundation ensured that districts weren’t simply reviewing materials—they were evaluating them through a strong district lens, with clear “guardrails” in place to guide decision-making.

ELSF was brought in strategically because nearly 1 in 5 students in Fresno County, more than 34,000 students, are multilingual learners. Districts needed focused support to understand what to look for in curriculum materials to truly serve this high population. After the initial phases with UnboundEd, ELSF partnered with districts across cohorts one and two to define the “must-haves” for multilingual learners and identify the critical questions to ask publishers.

By Phase Three, districts had solidified their priorities and non-negotiables, using them to build customized rubrics for evaluating materials. The result: a process rooted in vision, aligned to student needs, and designed to ensure that both students and teachers have the tools they need to succeed.

Learn how Fresno County’s collaborative, phased approach offers a powerful model for districts seeking to center multilingual learners and adopt high-quality instructional materials with purpose and precision.

Watch the full webinar by The Center for Education Market Dynamics called  “Setting the Course: Instructional Vision for Curriculum Adoption.”