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Norfolk school board reviews progress and shortfalls on advanced-studies diploma goal
Summary
At a March 19 school board workshop, Norfolk Public Schools staff reported declines and ongoing interventions across three cohorts tied to Board Goal 5, which seeks to raise the percentage of graduates earning advanced-studies diplomas to meet or exceed the statewide average.
At a March 19 school board workshop, Norfolk Public Schools staff reviewed interim measures tied to Board Goal 5 — the percentage of NPS graduates receiving advanced-studies diplomas — and reported that the district's cohorts are currently off track to meet board targets.
Dr. Pohl, presenting the standard report, told the board that when the goal was set the district average was 35.3% and the state average was 51.5%, and that the board’s long-range aim is for students to meet or exceed the state average by the end of the 2026–27 school year. For the class of 2027, the board set a target that 47% be on track for an advanced-studies diploma; staff said the cohort showed a 1.2-point decline from first to second quarter and is currently off track to meet that target under the metric the district uses.
The report identified mathematics and science as the courses with the highest failure rates for the 2027 cohort and noted that foreign-language enrollment and credit completion are a key part of the advanced-studies metric: "any current student in this cohort that is not enrolled in a language course or that has not completed credit in a language course would fall off of the metric," Dr. Pohl said. Staff described MajorClarity (academic and career planning) and Edmentum courseware as among the district’s tools to identify at-risk students and deliver targeted interventions.
Board members asked for more detailed breakdowns. A board member requested a “detailed breakdown of the failure rates by school and demographics and population,” and staff responded that while such demographic breakdowns were not included in the slide packet shown that evening, school-level monthly data meetings and principal briefings are conducted and the administration can provide a school-by-school, demographic breakdown on request.
Discussion also covered cohort specifics: the district follows four-year graduation cohorts, which can shift if students repeat grades or change enrollment, and that transition to a 4x4 schedule could give some students additional chances to take the language sequence needed for the advanced-studies diploma. Staff cautioned that many of the strategies described are longer-term and that the current cohorts entered high school before the board set the goal, limiting how quickly course enrollments can be changed.
Board members pressed for clarity on the courses driving failure rates. Staff said algebra and geometry showed higher failure rates in high school math and noted that when students fail unit assessments teachers can assign targeted Edmentum modules to reteach standards and reassess during the year rather than waiting until year end. Staff also said the division is working to ensure language offerings are available in all middle-year programs but identified occasional staffing and course-request limits that have prevented some students from enrolling.
Next steps described by staff include continued counselor-identified interventions, use of Edmentum for targeted remediation, family engagement in early intervention meetings, expansion of MajorClarity work into elementary grades, and department-level professional development to improve instruction.
The board did not take a vote on the measures that evening; members asked staff to return with more granular school- and demographic-level data to help target interventions.
