Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Assessment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District presents beginning‑of‑year assessment snapshot showing mixed gains in grades 3 and 8
Summary
Washington Elementary School District staff presented beginning‑of‑year assessment data for grades 3 and 8, highlighting higher-starting scores versus prior cohorts and plans for intervention and small-group instruction.
At the Sept. 25 Washington Elementary School District board meeting, district assessment staff presented beginning‑of‑year results for third- and eighth-grade students and described how teachers will use the data for small-group instruction and interventions.
Doctor Givinan, who led the presentation, said the district is emphasizing two grade levels this year: third grade, the first year students take the state assessments, and eighth grade, the final year before high school. “We are all committed to achieving excellence for every child, every day,” Doctor Givinan said while describing the district’s assessment plan and the role of benchmark and diagnostic tests.
The presentation compared cohort trends using multiple measures: STAR Reading and Benchmark Advance for reading, I‑Ready for mathematics, and STAR Early Literacy for younger readers. Key figures cited by staff at the meeting included: a gain to about 33% of a recent third-grade cohort scoring at or above grade-level on an end‑of‑year math diagnostic (I‑Ready) after earlier in‑year gains; beginning‑of‑year comparisons showing some cohorts starting higher than previous years in STAR Reading; and eighth‑grade cohorts arriving with higher baseline scores than their predecessors in some measures (an example cited: a cohort that moved from 17% in seventh grade to 29% at the end of the year).
District staff emphasized that these snapshots are preliminary, that different assessments serve different purposes, and that the data are intended for formative use. Doctor Givinan said I‑Ready is a diagnostic used to place students on a grade-level baseline and to set individual growth targets; Benchmark Advance and STAR Reading are benchmark measures that provide proficiency snapshots at the beginning of the year.
Board members asked clarifying questions about the meaning of beginning‑of‑year measures, the timing of curriculum adoptions, and whether gains reflect curriculum changes. Board member Jenny Abbot Bayardi and others noted the district adopted Benchmark Advance for K–6 and StudySync for grades 7–8 about four years ago and adopted I‑Ready for math two to three years ago. Several board members praised teachers and administrators for implementation work while asking how to better communicate results to the public.
District administrators described current next steps: teachers and coaches will review results to plan Tier 1 instruction, form small‑group lessons, and assign interventions; staff will continue progress monitoring and use formative checks throughout the year. Superintendent Doctor Hightower and other administrators said schools are already working to have students track their own data and to use student voice in progress conversations.
No board action was required; this was an informational presentation. Staff said the district will provide a comprehensive written report with demographic breakdowns and will return to the board with progress updates and further analysis of interim assessments.
