OKCPS board approves Reading Horizons curriculum; staff says updated v9 will be implemented

The Oklahoma City Public Schools board approved a consent agenda item that ratified the district’s purchase of a phonics and foundational-skills curriculum from HEC Software, doing business as Reading Horizons. District staff said the district will move to the vendor’s updated version, v9, and continue tracking Northwest Assessment trend data to monitor student outcomes.

Board member asked whether the curriculum, originally adopted under a 2021 agreement, still aligns with the board’s student-outcome-focused governance goals: "Since we've become a student outcome focused governance board, in district, how do we know that this curriculum is not out of date?" District staff replied that the district uses NWA data to track phonics and phonemic-awareness gaps and that Reading Horizons has provided on-site, job-embedded professional development for principals and teachers. "At this time, Reading Horizons has been a great partner, providing on-site and job embedded PD, not only to principals, but teachers in real time in the classroom with our students," the staff member said.

Staff said the district will continue to monitor trend data and, if the product does not meet needs, will bring a recommendation for a different product. The staff member said the district is preparing to purchase Reading Horizons’ most up-to-date version (v9) for implementation across schools this year and offered to provide specific phonics outcome data on request.

The consent agenda item, which included the curriculum ratification, was approved on a 6-0 vote. The board’s approval was recorded as part of the consent agenda vote; there was no separate roll-call vote recorded in the transcript for the curriculum item itself.

Discussion and questions about the curriculum occurred during the consent-agenda discussion rather than as a standalone agenda item. No dollar amounts, contract lengths, or implementation timelines beyond "this year" for the v9 rollout were specified in the transcript.

The district staff said they would continue to track outcomes and return with a recommendation if the curriculum does not close phonics and phonemic-awareness gaps.

Less critical details: a motion to approve the consent agenda passed with six aye votes and no nays, and the meeting then adjourned.