Elizabeth Public Schools adopts new universal screener, details broad curriculum revisions

Elizabeth Public Schools on Aug. 21 told its board that extensive curriculum revisions completed over the summer will guide instruction for 2025–26 and the district has adopted a new universal reading screener.

Superintendent Oggo Hugamier reported summer curriculum writing across visual and performing arts, bilingual and ESL programs, world languages, social-work supports and K–12 English, math and science. “We removed a screening tool that’s referred to as the DRA3 and we adopted the MClass DIBBLES as the universal screener in order to comply with the most recent legislation Public Law 2024 chapter 52,” the superintendent said.

The arts curriculum now includes a dedicated unit on the African‑American experience with Amistad‑integrated lesson plans for K–12 art, music, dance, band and drama. Bilingual and ESL updates focused on small‑group instruction, guided‑reading libraries for self‑contained bilingual teachers and placing multilingual learners by proficiency to deliver targeted instruction. World‑language pacing guides were revised and licenses for Vista (Spanish) and Mandarin materials were added at select schools.

Social‑work curriculum updates clarified roles in counseling and behavioral interventions, added suicide‑risk screening and threat‑assessment content, and expanded references to MTSS and 504 processes. The district also removed the DRA3 screener and replaced it with the MClass DIBBLES tool, citing compliance with state legislation and alignment with updated benchmark assessments.

District officials said K–6 writing pacing guides were enhanced, core novels and assessment routines were revised for grades 4–8, and high‑school instructional notes (including changes such as replacing Cornell notes with 'focus notes') were rolled out. Additional instructional resources announced for the coming year include AP preparation materials, TI‑84 reference guides for students, STMath expansion for middle schools and 'Actively Learn' as a digital reading platform for early grades.

During discussion, a commissioner raised concern that the New Jersey Department of Education’s notice about assessment changes arrived late. “The New Jersey Department of Education did not communicate on time with the school district,” the commissioner said; board leadership thanked administrators for rapidly revising materials and assessments to meet the new requirements.

The board was told more curriculum reports—on social studies and CTE—will be presented next month. No formal policy change was voted on during the presentation; the curriculum updates and screening-tool adoption were reported out for board review and future action.