“Maybe . . . 97.4 percent of kids’ books are crud.” —Mac Barnett, from Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children When the famed children’s book author and National Ambassador for Young People’s literature asserted this in his first foray into adult literature, the children’s literary community showed up in force to declare their outrage at such betrayal by one of their own. To be fair, Barnett’s actual thesis is that authentic children’s literature is complex and psycholog

At Contentra, every project has a story. Some stories are about seeing a vision come together from concept to completion. Others are about navigating complexity, adapting in real time, and finding solutions through collaboration. In this third installment of Tales from the Team, we’re highlighting two stories that showcase different aspects of the work we do and the people who make it happen. From developing innovative educational programs to managing projects through periods

At Contentra, some of the most rewarding projects we work on are the ones that challenge teams to rethink how learning experiences are built and delivered. Whether that means adapting content for new platforms, restructuring large sets of standards data, or finding ways to preserve strong instructional practices in completely different formats, these are the kinds of projects that push our teams to collaborate closely and solve problems creatively alongside our clients. In th

At Contentra, some of the most meaningful work we do is not defined by scope or timeline. It is defined by the problems we get to solve alongside our clients. Over the next several weeks, we are launching Tales from the Team, a blog series highlighting a few of our team’s favorite projects. These are the kinds of engagements that pushed us to think differently, collaborate more deeply, and ultimately deliver work we are genuinely proud of. To kick things off, we are sharing t

Why Math Standards Alignment Matters In today’s standards-driven educational landscape, two essential components—content standards and mathematical practice standards—shape mathematics instruction. Content standards define what students should know, such as operations, algebraic reasoning, and geometry. Mathematical practices describe how students engage with that knowledge. High-quality math instructional materials must intentionally address both content standards and mathem

Projects That Get Tight At some point during any project, things can become stressful. Shortened timelines. Extended scope. Internal teams are spread thin. An initiative that started off well planned turns into a series of compromises just to keep all the parts moving forward. This is typically when the conversation around bringing in a partner takes place—whether as extra help or as a fallback plan. In either case, the right partner is about not only adding additional capaci