The Math 8 Pivot: Inside the BHPSNJ March Curriculum Minutes

NJ21st recently noticed that committee meeting minutes had not been uploaded to the district website since October 2025 (Finance and Facilities), with some committee minutes not having been uploaded since June 2025.  These meeting minutes can often give insight into Board of Education deliberations and into the direction of plans for the district.  We have received Curriculum Committee minutes via request.  We also see that Personnel and Technology/Communication have posted minutes for March meetings since we sent our request.  There are “No minutes available” for Strategic Planning or Mountainside.  This article will focus on the minutes for the Curriculum Committee meeting held on March 9th, 2026.  There was a presentation by Dr. Kelly Curtiss that ties to our article about student placement in class levels.

The Curriculum Committee discussed dissections in science classes and proof-oriented geometry.  Minutes indicate Mr. Kolbiska and CMS teachers were working on schedule changes for CMS as well as criteria for the awards given out by the middle school.  The main interest in these minutes are the slides shown by Dr. Kelly Curtiss pertaining to the middle school math scores and class placement.  According to the minutes, the committee asked Dr. Curtiss to present this information at a May board meeting.

This was a comprehensive presentation including factors from teachers’ professional development and feedback, NJSLA scores, class placement, and diagnostic tools.  Much appreciation goes to Dr. Curtiss and the staff for this compilation, but more so for recognizing problems and taking steps to remedy.  In my own opinion, the pivot to including Math 8 in the Berkeley Heights middle school curriculum represents the most positive change I’ve seen for instruction in a decade.  This is especially important given the massive problems we saw with the wide implementation of Building the Thinking Classroom and the lesser-implemented but equally problematic Flipped Classroom.

The slide presentation starts by giving information on the effectiveness of teachers when they have a “collective efficacy”.  This idea is followed up in a later slide that mentions professional development (PD) and how that leads to improvement in student results. PD topics in 2025 included:

• Elevating Secondary Math Instruction
• Well-crafted Mini Lessons
• Purposeful Questioning
• Small Group Instruction
• Small Groups, Big Impact

Noting that two of the PD session dealt with small groups, slides in the deck also showed that there has been a focus on differentiation and flexible grouping to support neurodivergent students.  This ties in with the overarching need that drove the inclusion of Math 8.  The reality is that not all students achieve or learn at the same levels, and that “tracks” are a necessary part of education – both in the ability of students to challenge themselves in accelerated classes, and to have classes available that are appropriate for where a student is in their knowledge and abilities. 

With this being the case, there is still a need to be vigilant.  Under the “2024-2025 Strategy: Three Pillars of Growth” slide, one of those pillars is titled “Inclusive Environments”.  As students age, inclusion isn’t always a positive thing.  It can put students in a situation where they are set up to fail by being pushed beyond their abilities.  Differentiation within a single level of class is not going to serve students whose abilities are too far apart.  This is the balance that the district seems to be finding when it comes to the middle school math curriculum.

Math 8 came about (as taken from the presentation) as a result of an audit that showed gaps in gaps in geometry standards, weakness in statistics and probability, and inappropriate acceleration into Algebra I. While 100% of students passed the NJSLA for Algebra II in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, only 66.5% and 56.1%, respectively, of students passed the test for Algebra I.  Math 8 aims to provide developmentally appropriate pacing, strengthen foundational skills before high school, and fill the content voids found in the audit. It provides increased time to teach critical concepts, allowing students to fully learn and apply these concepts so they can build a strong foundation for continued learning.

The new math progression chart included in the slide presentation shows how Math 8 lines up in the trajectory of future math classes.  We encourage you to look at this chart, as it is difficult to outline here.  

Also shown in Dr. Curtiss’ presentation was “Assessment and Feedback” and “Instructional Coherence”.  The former aims to align assessments and rubrics.  It is assumed (on my part) that this means among teachers. There will be a “growth orientation” for retakes based on feedback.  The second part mentions assessments and feedback as well, but also identifies strengthening alignment of grading.  This is a much-needed action, and it’s a great sign.  Previous attempts by parents to get the district to address differences between teachers’ practices had been met by opposition and flat-out statements that the district would not direct teachers to align those practices, so ‘big ups’ here.

All in all, these meeting minutes give a sense of hopefulness for student growth and even well-being.  We encourage the other committees to submit their minutes to be posted on the district website.  After all, the board did vote to have this done, and it provides one more avenue for busy parents to keep abreast of what is happening in the district.