Flagstaff Unified rolls out Project Momentum and shares winter benchmark results; district plans $1.67M investment in teacher collaboration and curriculum work

District staff reviewed winter benchmark results and outlined Project Momentum, a school-improvement initiative the district is implementing with support from the Arizona Department of Education.

Mike Vogler, the district's assessment lead, summarized AIMSwebPlus benchmark results that the district administers three times a year. Vogler described the assessment as norm-referenced data that show how the district compares to a national norming group and explained growth measures such as student-growth percentiles. He reported mixed results: strengths in some elementary and middle-grade areas but concerns in early literacy (kindergarten and first grade) and in specific subtests such as silent reading fluency and comprehension for some grade levels.

Doctor Lance Huffman and staff introduced Project Momentum, a state-adopted school-improvement model the district is using to align instruction, strengthen professional learning communities (PLCs) and codify successful teaching strategies. Ms. Dre (district staff leading Project Momentum work) told the board, "Project Momentum is the school improvement model that Arizona is adopting," and described district goals to increase teacher collaboration, develop guaranteed and viable curriculum guides and expand job-embedded professional learning.

The district presented the Project Momentum budget and structure: a $1,670,000 grant intended to support leadership partners, teacher collaboration stipends, professional learning, curriculum-guide development and coaching. Presenters gave a rough breakdown during the meeting: roughly 28 percent for leadership support (principal partners and district coaching), about 30 percent for paid teacher collaboration outside contract time, about 9 percent for summer curriculum guide development and the remainder for professional learning providers and implementation supports. The district said it plans to pay up to 50 teachers during summer curriculum work and to convene grade-level and vertical teams across schools as part of the effort.

District leaders connected Project Momentum to the winter benchmark results: benchmark data are being used to identify students who need interventions, and PLCs are intended to help teachers use assessment data to group students for targeted instruction. Board members asked about diagnostic follow-up for students who score low, demographic breakdowns (including limited-English-proficiency students) and mechanisms for capturing successful interventions for districtwide scale-up.

Why it matters: the Project Momentum investment is designed to change classroom practice systemwide by paying teachers for collaborative curriculum development, increasing coaching and codifying effective instruction. The benchmarks provide near-term data to target interventions; district leaders said they will continue to report on growth and will use multiple measures to assess progress.

Next steps: The district will proceed with summer curriculum guide development, collect further diagnostic data for students identified at risk and continue professional learning and PLC refinement. Project Momentum reporting and school-level goals will be overseen by a district steering committee and regular reporting back to the board.