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Board approves $12,500 pilot of Flashlight language benchmarks for English learners
Summary
Marshalltown board approved a district pilot of Flashlight Learning’s benchmark assessment for English learners and discussed a data-management platform (Elevation) to track EL growth.
Marshalltown Community School District approved a $12,500 pilot on Feb. 10 to test Flashlight Learning’s benchmark assessments for English learners and review a data-management platform called Elevation, which district staff say will provide benchmark and progress-monitoring data beyond the once-a-year ELPA21 assessment.
Rachel Inks, the district’s EL coordinator, presented the Lau plan and the district’s LEAP goals for English learners, saying elementary and intermediate buildings exceeded state targets on ELPA21 growth while secondary buildings lagged. Inks described Flashlight Insight as a benchmark that measures speaking, writing and related subskills and that can be administered two or three times a year; Flashlight’s scoring of spoken and written prompts is performed by trained raters and produces targeted next-step recommendations for students and teachers.
Why it matters: Inks told the board the district currently lacks frequent, comparable districtwide benchmarks for EL speaking and writing, meaning teachers rely on once-a-year ELPA21 and local qualitative checks. Flashlight and Elevation together are designed to provide more frequent indicators so teachers can adapt instruction. Inks said she budgeted the pilot from Title III funds and will return with recommendations about scale and cost (per-pupil options were presented) after teachers evaluate the pilot.
Board action: A motion to approve the Flashlight pilot in the amount of $12,500 passed 7–0. The board also discussed a future request to license the Elevation platform (data visualization) and to select one of several frequency options (two or three benchmarks per year, K–12 or 1–12), with estimated annual costs presented to the board for later consideration.
District context: Inks described the pilot as targeted (initial administration planned for spring 2025) and said one school (Woodbury) would assess all students so the district could compare EL and non-EL language indicators. Staff emphasized that the pilot’s deliverable is diagnostic: benchmarks should help teachers target instruction rather than replace annual ELPA21 reporting.
Ending: The board approved the pilot and asked staff to return with teacher feedback and cost scenarios for scaling Flashlight and for implementation of the Elevation data platform.
