Tyee Park principal tells board school is driving strong growth despite low proficiency rates

At the Clover Park School District Board of Directors meeting on April 14, 2025, Tai'i Park Elementary Principal Tyler Beaker presented the school's academic, attendance and social-emotional data and told the board staff are using tiered instruction and frequent interim assessments to accelerate student growth.

Beaker said Tai'i Park serves a diverse population, with 44.5% of students identifying as Hispanic (compared with the state average of 26.1%), 30.4% multilingual learners and 82.5% qualifying as low income. He said five staff members speak Spanish fluently and the school added an early childhood special education program that serves 22 preschoolers. "In partnership with our community, families, and students, we provide a positive environment that nurtures and supports academic excellence and social growth," Beaker said.

Beaker acknowledged that statewide Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) proficiency rates at Tai'i Park lag the state: third-grade proficiency in 2024 was 28.5 percentage points below the state in English language arts and 24.2 points below in math; fourth-grade ELA was 27.7 points below and math 32.7 points below the state average. He said fifth-grade math proficiency declined sharply, with only 8% of fifth graders meeting the SBA math standard compared with a state average of 41.8%. "The Ty e Park staff recognize that our SBA data and science data fall short of our expectations. As principal, I am committed to fostering a sense of urgency," Beaker said.

Despite low proficiency percentages, Beaker highlighted growth measures. He said fifth graders posted median student growth percentiles of 68 in reading and 68.5 in math, above the district growth target of 55. He attributed that improvement to frequent interim assessment use and rapid instructional response: teachers administer monthly STAR reading and math benchmarks, unit-level Interim Assessment Battery (IAB) checks, and curriculum-based measures to identify skill gaps and provide tier 2 and tier 3 interventions as needed.

The school's action plan centers on three strategic goals: academic achievement (target median SGP of 60 in reading and 65 in math for 2024-25), family engagement (increase regular attendance to 90% by year-end), and social-emotional learning (increase students who can identify at least one SEL strength). Beaker said attendance has been a major barrier: last year the school averaged 87% weekly attendance with a chronic absence rate of 42%. To address that, Tai'i Park started daily attendance shout-outs, monthly attendance letters to families, targeted texts for classrooms and an attendance cup incentive for classrooms with the best monthly attendance. He said those efforts have produced rising attendance in five of six grade bands over the past two months.

On social-emotional screening, Beaker said the school moved away from Panorama and now uses Rhythm for ongoing checkpoints and is implementing tiered SEL supports, daily mindfulness (Inner Explorer) and individual check-ins for students needing more support.

Beaker described instructional work in mathematics with Dr. Ryan Flessner (Butler University) and the balanced math framework: "A majority of our staff regularly attend professional developments with Dr. Flessner and work on integrating components of the balanced math framework into their instruction," he said, noting teacher walkthroughs, instructional coaching and fidelity checks.

Board members asked about assessment load, mental health supports, attendance messaging and identification of highly capable students. Board member Dr. Caldwell asked how many days third through fifth graders test each year; Beaker estimated roughly 20 days for monthly STAR assessments plus additional IABs and the SBA performance tasks, concluding "probably around 30 days throughout the year where there is some sort of assessment going on." On mental health, Beaker said Tai'i Park uses an on-site counselor and partners with community providers including Greater Lakes Community Health Services.

Director Kim praised the school's responsiveness to family feedback on attendance letters and asked about the contrast between low proficiency and high growth, particularly the fifth-grade gains; Beaker attributed the gains to teachers' quick use of formative data and targeted interventions. Director Thomas told the school staff they should be proud of the fifth-grade growth.

Beaker closed by highlighting cultural events, field trips and family engagement initiatives that he said contribute to student learning. "The commitment of our staff, families, and students is apparent to me each and every day," he said.

The board did not take formal action on the school report; it was presented as part of the superintendent's report.