Tennessee Demonstrates its Commitment to Rigorous Reading Instruction with Selection of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Journeys Common Core © 2014

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) announced today that Journeys Common Core © 2014, the latest edition of its celebrated, proven effective K-6 reading program, has been adopted in more than sixty school districts throughout Tennessee, making it the leading curriculum for elementary reading in the state, according to independent reporting by the Tennessee Book Company.

Rebuilt specifically for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and enhanced by a suite of cutting-edge digital learning tools, Journeys Common Core © 2014 provides a fully integrated, in-depth approach to coverage of the standards, offering a comprehensive model of literacy that incorporates scientifically-based research and empowers educators and students.

“HMH is extremely proud that Journeys has been recognized by the Department of Education as an exceptional program,” said Anella Wetter, Director of Sales, HMH. “We are grateful that our curriculum will play an integral role in providing young students with strong foundational literacy skills, and pleased to be part of Tennessee’s exemplary efforts when it comes to guaranteeing that its schools have the best resources available to achieve Common Core success.”

In order to ensure a smooth transition to Common Core based learning, the Tennessee State Board of Education administered a rigorous curriculum review. Designated committees examined literacy programs for the 2013 adoption cycle with the guidance of a sophisticated scoring rubric that honed in on each program’s ELA instructional path, its alignment with the CCSS Publishers’ Criteria and its ability to support and engage the state’s population through its overall curricular design.

Journeys Common Core © 2014 at grades K-2 was rated highest of all basal series adopted by the Board of Education’s Grade Level Committee, which praised the curriculum for its superior quality in several key areas: building background knowledge through content-rich nonfiction; reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational; and regular practice with complex text and its academic language.

With the Expect More, Achieve More Coalition initiative, education and civic leaders in Tennessee have embraced the Common Core State Standards, demonstrating an active commitment to raising the bar in the classroom by providing learning communities with quality educational content that supports academic growth and prepares students for successful futures.

Integrating CCSS coverage into every lesson, Journeys Common Core © 2014 features brand new instruction to encourage students as they engage with a variety of rich, complex texts on a daily basis through close reading, performance tasks, and writing opportunities, encouraging both small- and large-group discussion, analysis and critical thinking. High-quality literary and informational exemplar texts—the most in any reading program on the market—ensure that students are prepared to succeed on PARCC and SBAC assessments and on track to read college- and career-level texts.

To learn more about Journeys Common Core © 2014, please visit www.hmhco.com.

To learn more about the Tennessee Textbook Adoption process, please visit http://www.tennessee.gov/education.

To learn more about the Expect More, Achieve More Coalition, please visit www.expectmoretn.org.


About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global learning company with the mission of changing people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. Among the world’s largest providers of pre-K–12 education solutions and one of its longest-established publishing houses, HMH combines cutting-edge research, editorial excellence and technological innovation to improve teaching and learning environments and solve complex literacy and education challenges. HMH’s interactive, results-driven education solutions are utilized by 60 million students in 120 countries, and its renowned and awarded novels, non-fiction, children's books and reference works are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.