Bloomfield staff tell Ralston school board reading gains continue but chronic absenteeism has risen

Bloomfield Elementary leaders told the Ralston Public Schools Board of Education on May 12 that the school’s reading proficiency shows modest gains after a year of targeted professional development, while chronic absenteeism has moved in the wrong direction and will be the school’s primary focus next year.

The presentation outlined two formal goals: improve reading scores on the NSCAS summative assessment to at-or-above the state proficiency average, and reduce chronic absenteeism by 10 percentage points to raise average daily attendance to 97%.

Bloomfield’s principal (presenting) said the school’s spring snapshot showed 33% of students “on track” and 14% at “college and career ready,” combining to about 47% proficiency on the NSCAS summative in the most recent report. The principal said, “Our reading goal is to improve reading as measured by NSCAS summative, to at or above state proficiency average.” The principal also noted that, for a cohort that previously scored 63% proficient in fourth grade, proficiency dropped to 56% this year, but added that “70 percent of our kids who returned…