Committee sends $3.2 million Reveal elementary math purchase to TLSS after members question tech use and rollout

Worcester — School officials proposed a six-year contract for the Reveal elementary math curriculum with a not-to-exceed cost of $3.2 million; the item drew extensive questioning from members and public commenters about implementation, technology balance and the timeline for professional development.

District math specialist Heather Farrington described Reveal’s strengths for Worcester students, saying the program “connects the concrete with the manipulatives to the visual and then to the abstract” and stressing that “math is ruthlessly cumulative,” meaning aligned K–12 materials can reduce instructional gaps. Administrators told the committee the district previously used an earlier version of the curriculum in secondary grades and described Reveal as a green-rated K–12 option that includes multilingual supports, SEL components, offline manipulatives and digital practice platforms.

Parents and committee members asked specific questions: Katherine Holmes and other parents worried the elementary materials as described in the backup appeared to carry a heavy digital component and asked how existing digital supplements would change. Several members, including Member McCollough, pushed for more teacher input and community review before final purchase. Member Johnson moved to send the purchase to the Teaching, Learning and Student Supports (TLSS) committee for thorough review; Johnson cited the need for due diligence because a systemwide curriculum change affects instruction districtwide. The motion to send the item to TLSS carried; TLSS was scheduled to review the proposal on March 26 with a planned full-committee return April 5.

On professional development, staff said two weeks of initial district PD were planned in June with additional virtual training and summer supports; administration acknowledged member concerns about a tight turnaround and said materials must be ordered promptly after contract approval to meet PD timing. The district committed to grade-level PD led by district staff and vendor training, ongoing coaching, office hours and aligned curriculum maps.

No purchase was authorized at the meeting; the committee sent the item to TLSS for further review and asked administration to return with additional detail on teacher feedback, the balance of digital versus paper materials, PD scheduling and the vendor’s delivery timeline.