Listen to the advertisements of technology companies, and it seems like AI can write anything.
But the fourth-largest school district in Illinois is listening to something else: teachers.
Educators in Indian Prairie School District 204 wanted to help their students become better writers — a central piece among goals they’ve identified for improving the district’s English Language Arts instruction. So teachers have studied and tested curriculum options for the past two years, even asking students to share their thoughts.
‘Thrilled’ about focus on writing
Now administrators are recommending a program for middle school students that ups the challenge of writing tasks, increases focus on reading comprehension, and helps students build confidence in these skills.
Called CommonLit 360, the curriculum for sixth- through eighth-grade students could be in use across the district as soon as fall 2025, if the school board approves it during its Jan. 13 meeting.
“This is really music to my ears,” school board member Supna Jain said about the proposed curriculum. “I’m thrilled with the emphasis this program is bringing on the rigor of writing and on reading comprehension.”
Building confident writers
As educators adapt to the presence of artificial intelligence tools in the world and the classroom, school board members said they’re excited that the proposed curriculum could help students build skills to create content themselves.
“Confidence and writing don’t often seem like they go hand-in-hand for many students,” school board member Allison Fosdick said. “In my experience, that is a motivation for using AI — when there’s a lack of confidence. It’s great to equip our students at the middle school level with greater confidence in their writing abilities.”
Two teachers who have tested the CommonLit 360 lessons in their classrooms praised the program for its rigor, organization, and ease of implementation. School board member Mark Rising said he also appreciates that the curriculum could bring a measure of standardization and equity across the district’s seven middle schools.
‘Enthusiasm’ for new curriculum
Buying access to CommonLit 360, and the books and other materials needed to follow its lesson plans, for a five-year period would cost the district $220,000, said Barbi Chisholm, director of core curriculum for middle schools.
Pending board approval, administrators plan to buy the curriculum and use an institute day in February to jump-start teacher preparations. Then they would aim to introduce CommonLit 360 across all standard-level English classes at the middle school level next year. Chisholm said 56 teachers — 68% of the middle school English Language Arts teaching staff — already participated in a pilot of the curriculum this fall, so excitement about the program is high.
“What we heard tonight was a lot of enthusiasm for this new curriculum — both from the students and from the teachers and people here presenting,” school board President Laurie Donahue said. “We’ll see at the next meeting if it gets approved.”
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