Curriculum Adoption as a Hinge-Point for Systemwide Transformation: Observations from Laguna Beach Unified School District

The Center for Education Market Dynamics • October 23, 2025

As California districts prepare for the upcoming math adoption cycle, many are looking to their peers for inspiration. Every district has unique challenges and opportunities, and the most valuable insights often come from seeing how another system approached the work.

Laguna Beach Unified School District offers one such example. By starting earlier than most and putting student experience at the center, Laguna Beach is leading a novel approach to adoption—one that uses the selection process as a hinge point to build shared vision, strengthen teacher leadership, and transform instruction across the system.

Their work demonstrates how selection is not just about picking materials, but about rethinking pedagogy, empowering teachers, and building sustainable structures for professional learning.

Through conversations with Laguna Beach leaders and their partners at the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE), five themes emerged about how to lead adoption as a student-centered change strategy:

1. Start with Student Experience, Not Materials

Laguna Beach flipped the adoption process on its head. Instead of starting with analyzing available materials or hosting a publisher fair, they began by defining the student learning experiences they wanted to see: inquiry, collaboration, discourse, and problem-solving. This vision became the anchor for decision-making, making Laguna an informed buyer.

As John Drake, Endowed Director at OCDE, explained:

“The reality is materials aren’t going to create the experience. It’s still the teachers who have to do that with high-quality materials. Too often we overlook the step of asking: what is the experience we want for kids? Laguna made that their starting point, and that’s what makes their process so different.”

2. Select Early to Create a Runway

By finalizing their decision before December, Laguna Beach opens up months of runway for professional learning. Teachers now have spring and summer to build familiarity and confidence, avoiding the common experience of rushing to get new materials in teachers’ hands right before a new school year begins. This timeline smooths rollout and implementation.

Dr. Chad Mabery, Assistant Superintendent in Laguna Beach, emphasized:

“If you select something in January or February, you can start training teachers right away. They end the year with some comfort, and then you can offer optional summer learning without it feeling forced. It gives teachers a runway instead of cramming PD at the end of the year or right before school starts.”

3. Empower Teachers as Co-Designers

Instead of assigning adoption to a small committee, Laguna empowered whole grade-level teams to pilot together. Teachers co-developed evaluation criteria, analyzed what makes a “rich task,” and brought direct classroom insights into the process.

Leaders also timed the pilot to fit when teachers could do their best work—not during end-of-year testing, but earlier, when they had the space to try new approaches and reflect. Dedicated PLC time gave teachers the chance to compare experiences and refine their thinking as a team.

This approach not only builds ownership during the pilot, it also creates a foundation for future professional learning. As John from OCDE observed:

“By the time full implementation begins, half of the teachers will already have a year under their belt. They can show others what it looks like and help address tensions before they even arise. That creates momentum and buy-in you don’t get from a typical adoption.”

4. Principals as Anchors

School leaders are active learners and coaches throughout this process. Principals carved out time to participate in PLCs, attend leadership sessions, and remain visible in classrooms. Their engagement signaled to staff that math instruction is a top priority and that teachers’ experience using materials in classrooms matter.

As Tom Turner, an elementary school principal, reflected:

“There are a hundred reasons I can’t get into classrooms every day. But of all those decisions you make, the best decision is to get into classrooms. This process gave me that purpose again—listening to teachers, seeing their work, and bringing their voices forward as part of the adoption.”

5. Repurpose Time and Frontload Resources

Laguna Beach redirected existing structures including professional development days, PLCs, and leadership meetings toward adoption and instructional transformation. Leaders treated this as non-negotiable work, arranging everything else around it. By investing time and resources up front, they built stronger teacher leadership and reduced the need for scattered PD later.

Chad described the payoff of these investments:

“We spent a whole year building capacity—visiting classrooms, looking at standards, and talking about pedagogy. By the time we sat down to review programs, it was clear and fast because everyone shared the same vision. I’m confident the investments we’re making now will pay off in implementation for years to come.”

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Laguna Beach’s story illustrates that adoption is not just about choosing a new curriculum. It is about centering students and leveraging a rare hinge point to transform an entire system.