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District reports mixed gains on state assessments, highlights early‑literacy growth and equity priorities
Summary
District staff presented 2024–25 assessment results showing overall accreditation, elementary achievement gains and continuing equity gaps; the district emphasized early‑literacy progress and targeted work for multilingual learners and students with disabilities.
Thompson School District staff presented the 2024–25 district performance framework, school ratings and multiple assessment trends, and outlined strategies to accelerate growth for multilingual learners and students with disabilities.
Assistant Superintendent Sarah Rasmussen and Carrie Garvin, director of assessment and evaluation, summarized the district-level findings: the district is "accredited" with a DPF score of 60.5, the graduation rate is about 90 percent, and 23 of 30 schools are rated "performance." Rasmussen and Garvin highlighted significant elementary gains: elementary CMAS English Language Arts and math outperformed the state in 2024–25, with elementary ELA at 44.8 percent meeting or exceeding expectations.
Garvin reviewed disaggregated results and growth priorities. She said multilingual learners and students with IEPs showed variable results and that the district set a biennial flexibility goal to reach a median growth percentile of the 50th for those groups. "In elementary, for all students, we did meet that goal at 51 percent. However, when you look at multilingual learners, you're gonna see that they are at 45% ... and then our students on IEPs were at 43%," Garvin said. Middle school growth lagged: "In middle school, we only saw 45% growth" for all students, and disaggregated groups were below the 50th percentile target.
On college-readiness assessments, staff said SAT results showed improvement at the junior level: the district's 11th‑grade SAT performance outpaced the state's gains in evidence-based reading and writing. The PSAT 9/10 results were mixed; staff noted state and national trends affected PSAT 10 performance this year.
Early-literacy measures (I‑Ready) showed stronger outcomes: staff reported end‑of‑year rates of students reading on grade level of about 87 percent for kindergarten, 62 percent for first grade and 64 percent for second grade in the spring assessment. Garvin and Rasmussen said the district adopted Benchmark Literacy and is aligning instructional practice to the science of reading; the district is also implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in secondary grades and plans to expand UDL training at the elementary level next year. "Benchmark is going to help support implementing science of reading in our classrooms," Rasmussen said.
Staff outlined program reviews and supports: the district is in year three of a five‑year review of special‑education programs and will begin a cultural and linguistically diverse education review with the Colorado Department of Education in November; staff expect those reviews to identify strengths and opportunities for intervention. Principals and instructional leaders are participating in "instructional tours" with district learning services to align implementation and coaching.
Trustees asked for comparisons to state-level DUIP (district unified improvement plan) results and for additional contextual reporting on how many students are on reading plans or IEPs within specific grade cohorts; staff agreed to provide further comparative data and to publish official state comparisons when available.
Rasmussen and Garvin emphasized the framework of continuous improvement and the district’s focus on ensuring grade‑level access through curriculum adoptions, targeted coaching, and intervention systems. They recommended ongoing committee review for prioritizing assessment findings and capitalizing on instructional supports.
