As the new school year nears, one Hudson Valley school district is set to adopt a new curriculum for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The Poughkeepsie Central School District Board of Education voted at the end of last month to implement a new curriculum with the company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The goal is to raise student performance from kindergarten through eighth grade.
School board president Jamar Cummings said students in the district of roughly 3,500 were previously operating under three different programs. He said parents told him curriculum felt all over the place.
"We want to find out how we can align the curriculum, right? How everything if you're we live in a transient community," Cummings said. "You can end up living on the north side in one area and move to another area and up at a different school ... we wanted to make sure that students, whatever classroom they're in, if they're in first grade, they can go whatever classroom and still be learning the same thing. We wanted to really align the curriculum, make it easier, cut out all the waste, and really focus our curriculum on one path.”
Deputy Superintendent Da’Ron Wilson said the biggest hope is to improve test scores.
According to the latest New York State Education Department data, roughly one-third of Poughkeepsie students in grades 3 through 8 were considered proficient on New York State Assessments in English Language Arts, math and science during the 2024-2025 school year.
District English Language Arts scores ranged from 33% down to 16%, declining more significantly as students got older. In math, students considered proficient peaked at 33% among fourth graders but dipped to 13% among eighth graders when including Regents-level students. The high school's 4-year graduation rate is 54%.
Wilson said the district implemented Houghton Mifflin Harcourt curriculum to great results in the 2016-2017 school year for middle and high school students.
“We were able to see tremendous growth both schools," Wilson said. "The middle school got out of receivership, the high school got a receivership. Our reason scores in ELA was at like almost an 86% passing rate. So we know that this is what happens. And then once they added the new services and the new supports that they have in the company, it was kind of like a no-brainer.”
Thomas Rozzi, a senior account executive for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, said the program allows teachers to customize lesson plans using artificial intelligence, but pointed out that data sharing is limited.
“They're not going out just to any website, so it's all housed internally," Rozzi said. "But teachers do have the ability to customize lesson plans, to edit their own creations, and to use prompts to say, hey, I there's a fire drill that I know that's happening the next day, I need to make this upcoming lesson only 20 minutes.”
The nonprofit education news agency Chalkbeat reported this week that 22 of 32 New York City local district superintendents are requiring elementary schools to use Houghton Mifflin Harcourt curriculum.
According to the news report, the city education department is “disabling” AI features in citywide ed tech contracts, including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s reading curriculum.
Rozzi said Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will visit Poughkeepsie schools multiple times per year to assist teachers with professional development and implementation of the new curriculum. He said teachers will also be able to visit with live coaches online.
Rozzi also said the curriculum also allows for greater parent engagement through an online portal, which allows teachers to send regular reports on student progress.
When asked about parents who might not like the technology forward curriculum, Cummings said not all technology is bad.
“We're moving into that generation anyway where everything is kind of on computers," Cummings said. "It's kind of hard to get around ... I think part of the community is averse to technology when we should kind of be embracing it in a way that it's going to be equitable and really help our students move forward.”
The school board president said the new curriculum is necessary to help students see improved outcomes.
"If it's not working, let's try something different. The numbers haven't changed over the last few years and we need a curriculum that is going to really increase our outcomes in the city of Poughkeepsie.”
The New York State School Boards Association said in a statement, “We do not take a position on any specific curriculum. We trust that local boards of education, in conjunction with teaching staff, school administrators and other relevant stakeholders, will make the best decision.”
This year, the curriculum will be implemented for students in kindergarten though eighth grade. It could expand through 12th grade in the future.
The first day of school for the Poughkeepsie School Districts is Tuesday.
