Kingston Schools Adopt New Math Curriculum for K-8 Grades
District selects HMH program after extensive review; KIS addresses air quality concerns following water leak
KINGSTON - May 5 - Kingston Public Schools is implementing a new mathematics curriculum from HMH (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) for grades K-8 starting next school year, following an extensive review process by a committee of teachers and administrators.
The curriculum change comes as the district's contract with enVision for K-5 expires this spring, while the Big Ideas program used for grade 6 expires next year.
"We're super excited about this," says Assistant Superintendent Tricia Clifford, who presented the curriculum update at Monday's Kingston School Committee meeting. "We really have a K through 8, one program."
The math curriculum review committee, which included teachers from both Kingston Elementary School (KES) and Kingston Intermediate School (KIS), evaluated two programs: HMH and iReady. Both were highly rated on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's CURATE rating system.
Committee members tested materials in their classrooms, met with publishers, and rated each program using a quantitative rubric. HMH emerged as the clear winner.
"I think we went with HMH in part because the student usability was much better than the other program we reviewed," said Dan Correia, who worked alongside Brian DeSantes, the mathematics coordinator, to lead the review process.
The implementation plan includes professional development opportunities for teachers this summer, with Kingston School Committee supporting curriculum work time for teachers to review materials and plan instruction.
"Choosing a program is important, but the implementation is as important because that is really where we're going to see it happen in the classroom," Dr. Clifford explains.
The district has budgeted approximately $103,000 for the first-year subscription, with costs expected to decrease in subsequent years. The investment covers textbooks and materials needed for initial implementation.
At Kingston Intermediate School, Principal Andy Materna reports that math performance has been "static for a number of years," making the curriculum change particularly timely. Recent data shows some dips in math performance in grades 3 and 4.
"Staff was saying that they didn't have enough time to teach the math," Materna says, noting that schedule adjustments have already been made to address this concern.
The new curriculum will be supported by an improved master schedule and ongoing professional development throughout next year, focusing on implementing what Dr. Clifford describes as a "math workshop" approach with differentiated instruction.
In other business, Materna provided an update on air quality concerns at KIS following a water leak. Air testing conducted during the recent vacation week came back with normal results.
"We're going to be working to move those classrooms back in or the students back into those initial classrooms and get things back the way they were before any of this happened," Materna says.
He clarified that affected students have been in full-size classrooms throughout the situation, not in hallways or common areas.
Both KES Principal Kerri Whipple and KIS Principal Andy Materna presented data on student performance, showing progress toward the district's goal of having 80% of students meeting or exceeding expectations at KES and 70% at KIS.
At KES, winter data shows 76% of first-grade students meeting expectations in DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills), a 15% increase from the previous winter.
"I have no doubt that we're going to get pretty close to 100%, hopefully," Dr. Whipple says about reaching the 80% goal by spring testing.
KIS data shows positive trends in reading across most grade levels, with an overall 5% increase compared to last winter.
Both principals also presented updated School Improvement Plans, with communication emerging as a key focus area based on parent surveys.
"One of the things that I've added in here to goal number three around the community involvement, engagement, and communication, is setting an expectation for classroom teachers to be communicating home around curriculum on a monthly basis," Materna explains.
Other highlights from the meeting include:
- A new transition event for incoming third-grade families scheduled for May 7 at KIS
- Approval of a DARE summer camp flyer to be made available at KIS for students entering grades 5 and 6
- Recognition of Michael Shekane, who is completing his term on the School Committee
- Update on the district's literacy plan, which will guide future curriculum review in reading and writing
- Approval of contracts for a computer technician and elementary principal
The Kingston School Committee's next and final meeting of the school year will be held remotely on July 7.