Houston ISD’s 130 overhauled New Education System (NES) campuses must follow a district-mandated curriculum in the upcoming school year.
Superintendent Mike Miles announced during a board meeting that other non-NES schools, barring five, will have the option to opt for the curriculum. All board members voted in favor of this decision.
Most campus administrators are leaning toward using the district’s curriculum, which Miles said is a “good sign.”
“Because there are only 130 NES schools where it’s required is because the teachers in the schools want to use it,” Miles said. “It’s a good curriculum and it will continue to be a strong curriculum.”
What does the new curriculum include?
HISD developed the curriculum to meet the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), the state’s curriculum requirements for every course and the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS).
The curriculum resembles the NES teaching techniques using slides, timed lessons and quizzes and multiple response strategies. The model also allows students who master the quizzes to go to a “Team Center” for the last 35 minutes of the class, where they are guided by learning coaches, while the other students stay back to grasp the lessons further.
HISD Chief Academic Officer Kristen Hole said the district’s materials aim to help teachers “get directly to that learning objective.”
“Sometimes that actually requires removing stuff, sometimes it requires visual cues to help them know how to stay paced and stay on track, so everything from high-level agenda slides to clear breaking points in the presentation,” Hole added.
In the next school year, HISD will also require students to study two novels instead of one for grades 6-10 students. Currently, grades 4-8 curricula include one novel.
What people said
Students and community members spoke against the step of using one curriculum district-wide, arguing that the stringent rules and timed learning adversely impact students.
“We’ve always celebrated our teachers, but lately it’s been harder to appreciate teachers when we feel like we’re not being taught,” said Micah Gabay, an HISD student. “Lessons become slide shows, assignments feel like busy work and a real connection is rare.”
Some teachers argued that the curriculum is riddled with errors.
“Many examples of current English curriculum are riddled with errors, causing classroom teachers to spend time correcting these mistakes prior to teaching their lessons,” said Caroline Ship, a retired HISD teacher of English with 38 years of experience.
Miles disagreed but admitted he had corrected errors and improved the curriculum since the Texas Education Agency (TEA) took over HISD in 2023.
“It’s a huge undertaking, it’s been improved over the last two years,” Miles said. “We’re still working on it. It’s not riddled with mistakes. It’s a really good curriculum, and even today, we’re working on the nuance of this close integration of curriculum and instruction.”
