Prepare for a New School Year

This guide walks you through preparing your curriculum for a new school year—from reviewing last year's content through publishing a new edition.

Overview

Annual curriculum preparation typically involves:

1. Review - Assess what worked and what needs updating
2. Update - Make necessary changes and improvements
3. Align - Update standards alignments if needed
4. Translate - Ensure translations are current
5. Publish - Create a new edition for the school year

Timeline

Plan your preparation timeline working backwards from your release date:

Adjust based on your curriculum size and team capacity.

Step 1: Review Last Year

Gather Feedback

Collect input from stakeholders:

Analyze Usage Data

If you have analytics:

• Which content was most/least used?
• Where did users spend the most time?
• What content had high error rates?
• Which sections had completion issues?

Document Findings

Create a change log:

## 2024-2025 Preparation Notes

### Priority Fixes
- Unit 3, Lesson 2: Confusing example (12 reports)
- Unit 5: Missing prerequisite content

### Enhancements Requested
- More practice activities for struggling learners
- Updated real-world examples

### Standards Updates
- State adopted new science standards
- Minor CCSS clarifications released

Step 2: Plan Your Updates

Categorize Changes

Sort updates by type and priority:

Create a Work Plan

Break updates into manageable tasks:

1. List all planned changes
2. Assign to team members
3. Set deadlines for each phase
4. Build in buffer for unexpected issues

Consider Scope

Be realistic about what's achievable:

• Must have - Address for this year
• Should have - Include if time permits
• Could have - Defer to next cycle
• Won't have - Explicitly out of scope

Step 3: Update Content

Make Your Edits

Work through your change list:

1. Open content in edit mode
2. Make the revision
3. Save with clear notes about what changed
4. Mark as ready for review

Track Changes

Use workflow states to track progress:

Version Awareness

When editing content that has existing editions:

• Editions are frozen—your edits don't affect them
• Current (draft) content is what you're editing
• The new edition will capture your changes

Step 4: Update Standards Alignments

Check for Standards Changes

Educational standards occasionally update:

1. Verify your standard set version
2. Check for state/national updates
3. Import new standards if available
4. Review crosswalk documentation

Update Alignments

If standards changed:

1. Use crosswalks to map old → new standards
2. Review affected content nodes
3. Update alignments to new standards
4. Verify coverage is maintained

Verify Coverage

Run coverage reports for your target standards:

1. Navigate to Standards Coverage
2. Select current year's standard set
3. Identify any new gaps
4. Address gaps through content or alignment updates

See Achieve Standards Coverage for detailed guidance.

Step 5: Update Translations

Check Translation Status

Review all locales for staleness:

1. Navigate to translation dashboard
2. Identify nodes with stale translations
3. List content needing translation updates

Update Translations

For each stale translation:

1. Review the source language changes
2. Update the translation to match
3. Have translations reviewed
4. Mark as current

New Content Translation

If you added new content:

1. Identify untranslated nodes
2. Prioritize by usage/importance
3. Complete translations before edition
4. Include in QA review

Step 6: Quality Assurance

Content Review

Final check of all updates:

• [ ] All edits complete
• [ ] Changes reviewed by subject expert
• [ ] No broken cross-references
• [ ] Assets display correctly
• [ ] Formatting consistent

Standards Review

Verify alignment accuracy:

• [ ] Coverage targets met
• [ ] Alignments reviewed by standards expert
• [ ] Crosswalks applied correctly
• [ ] Documentation updated

Translation Review

Check all locales:

• [ ] No stale translations
• [ ] New content translated
• [ ] Native speaker review complete
• [ ] Formatting preserved

Workflow Completion

Ensure proper states:

• [ ] All content approved or published
• [ ] No items stuck in review
• [ ] Returned items addressed
• [ ] Workflow exceptions documented

Step 7: Create the Edition

Pre-Edition Checklist

Before creating the edition:

## Edition Readiness Checklist

- [ ] All content updates complete
- [ ] Standards alignment verified
- [ ] Translations current
- [ ] QA review passed
- [ ] Stakeholder sign-off received
- [ ] Edition name/description drafted

Create the Edition

1. Navigate to Editions
2. Click New Edition
3. Enter details:
   • Name: "2025-2026 School Year"
   • Description: Overview of this release
   • Changelog: Summary of changes from last year
4. Click Create Edition

For large curricula, creation runs in the background.

Verify the Edition

After creation:

1. Open the new edition
2. Spot-check content across sections
3. Verify translations included
4. Check alignment data captured
5. Review edition metadata

Step 8: Update Variants

If you have state or regional variants:

Review Parent Changes

Variants may need updates when the parent changes:

1. Open each variant
2. Check for "Parent Updated" notifications
3. Review each flagged node
4. Accept updates or maintain overrides

Variant-Specific Updates

For variant-only changes:

1. Apply state-specific updates
2. Update state standard alignments
3. Verify variant-specific translations
4. Run variant QA process

Create Variant Editions

Each variant needs its own edition:

1. Open the variant
2. Follow the same edition creation process
3. Name appropriately (e.g., "Texas 2025-2026")
4. Create editions for all variants

Step 9: Prepare for Distribution

Documentation

Prepare release documentation:

• Release notes for users
• Change summary for stakeholders
• Known issues list
• Support documentation updates

Communication

Notify stakeholders:

• Announce availability date
• Highlight major changes
• Provide training resources
• Share support contacts

Distribution

Coordinate with your distribution systems:

• API access for the new edition
• LMS integration updates
• Print preparation if applicable
• Mobile app updates

Annual Preparation Checklist

## [Year] Preparation Complete

### Review Phase
- [ ] Feedback collected and analyzed
- [ ] Change plan created and approved
- [ ] Resources assigned

### Update Phase
- [ ] Content updates complete
- [ ] Standards alignments current
- [ ] Translations updated
- [ ] QA review passed

### Publish Phase
- [ ] Edition created and verified
- [ ] Variant editions created
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Stakeholders notified

### Distribution Phase
- [ ] Distribution systems updated
- [ ] User access verified
- [ ] Support team briefed

Tips for Success

1. Start early - Curriculum updates take longer than expected
2. Prioritize ruthlessly - Not everything can make this cycle
3. Communicate changes - Teachers need to know what's different
4. Document decisions - Why changes were made (or not made)
5. Build buffer time - Unexpected issues always arise
6. Archive editions - Keep historical versions accessible

Common Issues

"Not enough time for all updates"

Prioritize critical fixes over enhancements. Defer non-essential updates to next cycle.

"Variant updates falling behind"

Consider whether all variants need simultaneous release. Stagger if necessary.

"Translations incomplete"

Release with primary language; add translations in a point release if needed.

Related Documentation:
- Publishing Editions - Edition creation
- Curriculum Comparison - Compare versions
- Workflow & Review - Review process
- Using Variants - Variant management