Amid all this work, the district has also pledged major reforms at every school level: a literacy overhaul in elementary school; a change in math curriculum, including the potential return of algebra to middle school; and in the district’s 17 high schools, rethinking courses, college and career readiness, and admissions — Lowell High’s controversial status in particular.
These three levels of academic reform — elementary, middle, and high school — are all spurred in large part by distressing disparities in outcomes for Black and brown students. After the acrimonious 2022 recall, the new board quickly hired Superintendent Matt Wayne, and they all agreed on a five year plan to boost student performance in the three areas.