Marshall Public Schools outlines professional development, new reading and assessment plans for 2025–26

Beth, a district staff member, told the Marshall Public School District board that the district’s theme for the 2025–26 school year is “relentless excellence” and described a slate of professional development tied to changes in state reading requirements and updated academic standards. "Our theme for the 25-26 school year is relentless excellence," Beth said.

The presentation centered on the Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act (referred to in the meeting as the READ Act) and state guidance from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) that affects required staff training and the choice of student screeners. Beth said elementary and K–12 special education staff completed OLA training last year and that noncertified staff who work directly with students participated in an eight-hour professional development series this week.

The district plans to use DIBELS as the kindergarten–third grade screener and to adopt the MDE-recommended CAPTI (referred to in the meeting as “CAPTI Read Basics”) for grades 4–12. Beth said the CAPTI screener includes multiple subtests and a built-in dyslexia screen that she expects will give “great information” for supporting students. The district will continue using DIBELS three times per year for K–3; CAPTI may be administered once or twice for some students and could be given up to three times for students needing progress monitoring.

Beth said those changes prompted the district to discontinue NWEA as its primary normed assessment and to reallocate testing approaches: M Class/DIBELS in early grades, CAPTI for upper grades, and MCA results plus targeted grade-level assessments for grades 5–12.

On curriculum, Beth said the district is implementing the 2020 English language arts standards this year with selected curricular resources, including Benchmark Advanced and HMH products at the middle school. Social studies will move to full implementation of the 2021 standards next year, after the state’s rule-making timeline. Beth also described rolling new standards into Infinite Campus so teachers can tag assessments to exact standards; she said report cards will change after the first quarter to reflect that alignment.

The district also plans refinements to report-card rubrics: middle school adopted a 0–3 scale (adding 0 to reflect lack of work completion), while elementary levels will remain on a 1–3 scale. Beth said the 0 is intended to communicate to families when work was not completed that quarter and to prepare students for high-school expectations.

The board discussed how the new assessment and curriculum choices will be used diagnostically, with classroom assessments and interventions guiding instruction even though statewide tests such as the MCAs are single-day administrations. Beth said district staff will use multiple data points when placing students or designing interventions.

Hamish Brewer, the keynote speaker the district hosted for staff, was quoted by Beth: “One of our most important responsibilities in schools is to protect and advocate for our students' individuality and identity.” Beth said the keynote aligned with the district’s professional-development theme.

The presentation concluded with a call for continued staff professional development and ongoing adjustments to assessment and reporting practices as the new standards and screeners are implemented.