Tomedes Brings Paradigm Math's Equity-Driven TK–8 Curriculum to Spanish-Speaking Classrooms Across California

Paradigm Math was built to make mathematics meaningful for every student. Tomedes made sure that promise could reach students whose first language is Spanish.

About Paradigm Math

Paradigm Math is an equity-driven TK–8 mathematics curriculum developed and built specifically for California schools. Aligned to the California Math Framework and the California Common Core State Standards, Paradigm's program is designed around the belief that every student deserves a math education that honors their potential and lived experience – regardless of background, income, or academic history.

The curriculum spans Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 8 and embeds the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMPs) throughout every unit, encouraging students to reason abstractly, persevere through challenges, and develop mathematical confidence through structured, student-centered instruction. Paradigm's program includes student books, teacher books, and a full suite of instructional resources – designed with real teachers and diverse learners in mind, and supported by professional learning and coaching for schools and districts.

For the many California classrooms where Spanish is the primary home language, reaching students in their own language is not a supplemental goal – it is central to the equity promise that Paradigm was built to deliver.

Industry and Services

• Education / Academic Publishing 

• Math Textbook Translation 

• DTP 

• English to Spanish (Mexican)

The Challenge

Translating a TK–8 math textbook series is a different category of project from translating a document or a general curriculum guide. A math textbook is a precisely engineered instructional object – every number, symbol, equation, diagram label, and word problem has been placed deliberately, and the relationship between the visual layout and the mathematical content is part of how students learn. Paradigm Math's request presented three challenges that required a highly structured, specialist workflow.

1. Mathematical content requiring both linguistic accuracy and instructional integrity

Mathematics has its own language, and mathematical Spanish is not simply translated into English. The Standards for Mathematical Practice terminology, grade-level vocabulary, word problem structures, and the specific language used to describe mathematical operations and reasoning processes all have established Spanish equivalents that California educators and students expect to see. A translator unfamiliar with California math education conventions (or who rendered mathematical language using general Spanish equivalents rather than the established academic register) would produce materials that were linguistically correct but instructionally misaligned.

Paradigm had already developed grade-level Spanish glossaries and established Spanish equivalents for the SMPs, reflecting years of work with California's Spanish-speaking student population. Every translator working on the project had to apply these reference materials consistently across all grades and all book types.

2. MS Publisher files requiring a specialist DTP workflow

Paradigm Math's textbooks are produced in Microsoft Publisher – not InDesign, which is the standard tool for most professional publishing and DTP workflows. This distinction matters because Publisher files cannot simply be exported, translated in a translation memory tool, and reimported without a carefully managed process. The workflow required extracting content from Publisher into bilingual tables, translating with glossary reference, and then reimplementing the translated text directly in Publisher – preserving the original format, layout, colors, fonts, and mathematical symbols (sum, division, multiplication, and others) exactly as they appeared in the English source.

Any deviation in this process (a symbol rendered incorrectly, a layout element shifted by text expansion, a font substituted) would produce a textbook that failed the quality standard Paradigm's students and teachers depend on.

3. A grade-by-grade delivery schedule across a full TK–8 series

The project was not a single delivery. Paradigm Math's translation engagement ran across multiple grade-level batches (TK Books, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 8, plus additional files and missing file supplements) each with its own deadline aligned to Paradigm's publishing and school adoption schedule. Managing this as a series of sequential, accurately tracked deliveries required an account structure that could handle ongoing orders, mid-project supplementary files, and a consistent quality standard applied across every batch regardless of which grade was in production.

Why Tomedes?

Paradigm Math selected Tomedes after confirming that Tomedes could work with Microsoft Publisher files and translate math textbooks at the quality level a published curriculum requires. The engagement was structured from the outset around Paradigm's existing Spanish-language reference materials (the grade-level glossaries and SMP Spanish equivalents that Paradigm had developed) ensuring that Tomedes' translators were not making independent terminology judgments but applying the vocabulary standards Paradigm had already established.

A dedicated account contact managed the engagement across all grade-level batches, maintaining Paradigm's standing instructions across every order and ensuring that new batches moved into production without requiring re-briefing on the workflow, glossary references, or DTP requirements.

The Solution

1. Glossary-anchored translation using Paradigm's established Spanish reference materials

Before translation began on each grade-level batch, Tomedes' translators were provided with Paradigm Math's grade-specific Spanish glossaries and SMP Spanish equivalents – the reference materials Paradigm had developed over years of work with California's Spanish-speaking student population. These were applied as mandatory reference throughout the translation process, ensuring that every mathematical term, SMP reference, and grade-level vocabulary item appeared in the form Paradigm's educators and students expected. Translators did not make independent decisions on established terminology, they applied Paradigm's standards consistently across all content types in every batch.

2. A Publisher-native DTP workflow preserving layout, format, and mathematical symbols

Each grade-level batch followed a structured three-stage workflow: content extraction from Publisher into bilingual tables, translation and review with glossary reference applied, and direct reimplementation of translated text into the original Publisher files. Mathematical symbols (sum, division, multiplication, and all others) were preserved exactly as they appeared in the English source. Fonts, colors, layout structure, and spatial relationships between text and mathematical content were maintained through the reimplementation stage. Paradigm's team did not receive generic translated files requiring reformatting, they received Publisher-ready textbook files that matched the production standard of the English originals.

3. Grade-by-grade batch delivery across the full TK–8 series

From July 2025 through May 2026, Tomedes delivered English to Spanish (Mexican) translation and DTP across the full Paradigm Math TK–8 series in grade-level batches (TK Books, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, and Grade 8) plus additional files and missing file supplements for Grades 1, 4, and 5 as the production process identified gaps. Each batch was tracked and delivered independently against Paradigm's publishing deadlines, with the same glossary reference, workflow, and quality standard applied from the first batch to the last.

The Result

From Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 8, Paradigm Math's full curriculum is now available in Spanish – translated to the vocabulary standards Paradigm's educators and students expect, laid out in Publisher files ready for production, and delivered grade by grade on the timeline Paradigm's publishing schedule required.

For the Spanish-speaking students in California classrooms using Paradigm Math, the translated curriculum delivers the same equity-driven, student-centered mathematical experience that Paradigm was built to provide – in the language they learn best.

Paradigm Math's mission is to make mathematics meaningful, accessible, and inspiring for all students. Tomedes' role in this project was to make sure "all students" included the ones who needed it in Spanish.

Are you an educational publisher, curriculum developer, or school district preparing instructional materials for Spanish-speaking students or other language communities? Contact Tomedes today for a free consultation.

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