Quality Curriculum
To provide all students with a rigorous and relevant educational experience, HISD has developed the CLEAR (Clarify Learning to Enhance Achievement Results) Curriculum aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. The district has also created model lessons to help teachers teach the curriculum thoroughly and effectively in every HISD classroom.

Full-Day Prekindergarten
To start the learning process early and prepare students for success in all grades, HISD offers full-day prekindergarten programs to all eligible four-year-olds and opened early childhood education centers throughout the district.

Focus on Reading
Improved literacy strategies employed across all content areas help the district to ensure high-level reading and comprehension at all grade levels. The Lexile Framework for Reading, which matches readers to suitable texts by measuring both student reading ability and text difficulty on the same scale, allows teachers to choose materials that will parallel and improve student reading skills. The district’s revised Balanced Approach to Reading touches on all content areas, because students’ command of the five elements of literacy (phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) improves their academic performance in every subject.

Fine Arts Initiative
HISD is training teachers to use music, dance, and other fine-arts disciplines in their lessons to engage students in math, science, and other core subjects; actors, musicians, dancers, painters, and other artists work with students after school; students visit art museums and attend performances by local arts organizations; and the Winter Fest fundraising effort supports the Sound Investment program to purchase musical instruments for students.

Math/Science/Technology
HISD has developed many strategies for providing focused instruction in these critical areas. Every elementary school has a well-equipped science lab, the Model Science Lab teaches elementary-school science teachers the most-effective instructional strategies, the district purchased 14,500 desktop computers for all classrooms and support personnel, and the HISD Mathematics Initiative was launched to increase student achievement in math.

Intervention and Support
Teachers and administrators periodically analyze achievement-test data to pinpoint students’ areas of weakness so they can provide immediate individualized intervention and keep struggling students from falling behind in core content areas.

Choice
A “portfolio of schools” is available to all students to meet their unique needs, interests, and talents. The district’s wide variety of specialized academic and enrichment programs are designed to inspire and enhance learning. They include Magnet programs that focus on such subject areas as fine arts, math and science, computer technology, law enforcement, health professions, international studies, and aviation.

Free Breakfast for All Students
To make sure all children have the nutrition and energy they need to be healthy and learn to their full potential, HISD offers free breakfast to all students. This outreach initiative increased the number of students eating a good breakfast by 17 percent.