The Englewood Board of Education agreed to replace its earlier student‑achievement goal language with a tiered, measurable goal that ties district accountability to beginning‑of‑year and end‑of‑year benchmark assessments.

Dr. Scaramadella, presenting for curriculum staff, said: “By June 2026, 80 percent of students in pre‑K through grade 10 will demonstrate measurable academic growth in both ELA and mathematics based on their initial performance tiers from the beginning‑of‑year benchmark assessments to the end‑of‑year results as measured by district approved assessments.” The curriculum team described five performance tiers — significantly below, below, approaching, meeting and exceeding — and set distinct growth targets for each tier (for example, 25% growth for the lowest tier and smaller targets for higher tiers) so the measure is applied to each student’s initial performance level.

The district linked the new goal to accountability and implementation steps: teachers will use the district goal as their Student Growth Objective (SGO), administrators will adopt it as building goals, and evaluations and Professional Development Plans will be aligned so that all staff have a common, measurable objective.

Board members asked clarifying questions about tiers and assessments: Dr. Scaramadella explained the district will move from HMH to i‑Ready as its universal screener and that the measure compares a student’s individual beginning‑of‑year score to their end‑of‑year score. Board Member Rachel asked whether the assessments are teacher‑influenced or fully adaptive; Scaramadella said i‑Ready is an adaptive, individualized online assessment and that parents will receive student reports after benchmarks and can request additional reports from teachers. Board Member David and others asked whether the tier thresholds and percentage targets reflect realistic growth; Scaramadella said the team calculated targets from historical benchmark shifts and set 80 percent (higher than the NJDOE’s 70 percent benchmark) as a district target.

The board held a straw poll on adopting the revised student‑achievement language and measurement; members in favor raised hands and the chair announced the change would replace the June 23 language and move forward to be placed in a resolution for a future regular meeting.

The board also asked for monitoring and reporting: administrators confirmed students will take beginning, middle and end‑of‑year i‑Ready benchmarks (typically fall, winter and spring) and that the district will provide interim progress reports to the board and to families. Parents at the meeting asked for sessions to help interpret i‑Ready reports; the administration said Parent University and other opportunities will explain reports and that parents may request reports from teachers.

The board’s vote to accept the new language was a procedural poll; the revised goal and measurement will be formalized in a resolution at a later regular meeting.