District presents 2024 assessment report: proficiency up in some areas, growth emphasized as focus for interventions

The Catalina Foothills Unified School District received an extended assessment briefing on Jan. 28 showing mixed results across state assessments, college‑and‑career readiness exams and Advanced Placement testing, and outlining how staff will use detailed reporting to guide interventions.

Justin Robinson, coordinator of student data assessment and accountability, told the board that district proficiency on several state achievement assessments remains above the Arizona averages and that growth measures are a significant component of school letter grades. "All grades and subgroup passing rates improved or maintained when compared to the previous school year," Robinson said, while noting specific drops in fifth grade and among some small subgroups.

Robinson reviewed participation rates, proficiency and growth for the AASA (grades 3–8), AZSCI, ACT Aspire and ACT. He said district ELA proficiency for grades 3–8 was 71 percent and that many subgroups either improved or maintained their rates compared with the prior year. Robinson emphasized growth data as a separate metric: "This is measuring the percent of students who achieved average or high growth rates," he said, and added that growth can add points to school ratings even when proficiency is low.

The presentation included additional tests: PSAT participation and results, the STAMP language assessment used for Seal of Biliteracy consideration, and Advanced Placement exam participation and scores. Robinson told the board the district had about "800 total unique AP students" and roughly "1,400 exams" in the current year, and said AP exam scores and participation have increased in recent years.

Robinson also described how the district is turning assessment data into action. Principals and teachers are being given reports that identify which students are minimally proficient, where they show low growth and which reporting categories (strands or standards) are weak. That enables targeted interventions such as MathLab pullouts and Collaborative Inquiry Team work at schools. The coordinator said teachers received student-level reports that show specific category performance so they can plan instruction and interventions earlier in the year.

Board members asked about data interpretation, equity and how the district supports site teams in using the reports. Robinson said the district is providing deeper training for principals on the A–F accountability calculations, offering site‑level followups, and working with principals to present the data to their teachers. He cautioned that some subgroup data are suppressed in public reports to preserve student anonymity.

No formal action was taken; the presentation was provided for information and to guide site-level planning for instruction and interventions.