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Norfolk board hears data showing reading gains for Black students but gaps remain
Summary
Division officials reported measurable gains on interim reading measures for the Black student subgroup but acknowledged gaps remain versus all-student averages and among students with IEPs.
Norfolk Public Schools officials told the school board during a work session that interim measures for the district's Board Goal 3 show progress in reading for students in the Black subgroup, while officials cautioned some gaps persist.
English office director Dr. Cole presented winter and interim spring data showing increases in the percentage of Black students scoring on or above grade level on the STAR reading assessment and a steady decline in the share classified in the district's "urgent intervention" band. Cole said the division's winter-to-winter trend represents a 16.8-point increase from the initial baseline used for the multi-year goal and that the current winter data point is 1.9 points above the interim target for the spring administration.
Cole told the board that reading specialists, expanded student reading plans and monthly, job-embedded coaching have driven improvements. "Reading specialists are providing families with targeted resources" and the English office logged more than 143 coaching sessions tied to SIPS intervention work, Cole said. The office also delivered professional development aligned with the Virginia Literacy Act and the division's elementary curriculum (Benchmark Advance).
Board members asked for more detail about where growth is strongest. Cole said third-grade gains have been pronounced and attributed those to sustained early-literacy interventions that have been in place for multiple years. She said middle grades (sixth through eighth) are improving but at a slower rate than the division average; the division recently expanded student reading plans to include sixth grade and some fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms to prepare for upcoming expectations.
Board members also pressed on subgroup differences. Cole said the Black subgroup remains below the all-student group by 6.4 percentage points on one winter measure. When asked about students within the Black subgroup who also have individualized education programs (IEPs), Cole said they are "progressing but not as fast as others." The presentation noted 2,891 student reading plans were developed, an effort the district ties to a 10 percent reduction in students in the high-risk band.
The administration listed next steps including continued monitoring of reading plans, monthly intervention walkthroughs, additional coaching, and partnership work with the Virginia Department of Education's comprehensive literacy network. Superintendent Birdsong and the English office also told the board that Norfolk volunteered to pilot a new instructional-walkthrough instrument aligned to the science of reading with VDOE.
Board members asked for more granular measures showing which specific strategies (for example Lexia usage, SIPs intervention, reading specialist coaching, or summer programs) are most closely correlated with student growth. Cole said the division monitors multiple tools (STAR, unit assessments, Lexia and SIPs) but cautioned that several interventions operate together and isolating a single cause is difficult without targeted research.
The presentation and Q&A will be part of ongoing monitoring; the board indicated interest in receiving a follow-up that ties key tactics more directly to outcome metrics.
