Board discusses literacy and English‑learner goals, staff outlines assessments, training and Title III funding

Rochester Community School District staff reviewed Goal 1 for literacy and English‑learner services, outlining how the district identifies, places and exits students from English‑learner programs and describing training and assessment choices tied to state guidance and Title III funding.

Staff said Goal 1 focuses on identification, placement and exit for English learners and that identification requires scoring students across domains including speaking, listening, reading and writing. The staff member described Title III funding as comprising “2 funds of Title III” that the district uses to support English‑learner programming and professional learning.

The staff told trustees the district uses I‑Ready data and locally selected assessments rather than contracting with a third‑party vendor for some monitoring work. “So we did, we chose not to go with a company, a third party company,” the staff member said, noting the district instead aligned local assessments and essential elements to its monitoring goals.

Reading interventions and professional development were discussed. Staff described purchases and training for a program referenced in the packet as UFLY and for Orton‑Gillingham training; stipends were provided to teachers who completed the Orton‑Gillingham training. Staff said Orton‑Gillingham is intended to be used in a short, sequential instructional sequence for classroom use; the packet also referenced a timeline and versions of approved assessments and materials that various groups are aligning.

Trustees pressed staff for timing and monitoring details. Staff said the district has professional learning built into its evaluation of monitoring indicators and that administrators and leadership teams review data at regular intervals. The packet includes a note that the department will provide a list of approved reading assessments “by no later than January” (the transcript excerpt did not specify a year).

No vote to adopt a specific assessment vendor or a change to Title III allocations was recorded in the provided excerpts. Staff described ongoing work to implement the goals in the 2023–24 school year and said monitoring and professional learning would continue.

The board’s discussion included a point of procedure when one trustee referenced closed-session material and another trustee raised a point of order; the chair sustained the point of order.