Superintendent Dr. McGahn presented spring assessment results and board members spent much of the June 3 retreat parsing where gains and declines occurred by grade and subject, and how the district should respond with curriculum, staffing and targeted supports.

The district summary showed overall upward trends in several grades but also specific declines in some cohorts: board members pointed to the effect of pandemic-era disruptions and a growing population of English-language learners as complicating factors in year-to-year comparisons. Trustees and administrators agreed on two principles: use assessment data to identify specific gaps and ensure the district commits resources where the analysis indicates the greatest instructional need.

“That's why I feel like I was putting a percentage on it would be a kind of a little bit unfair,” a board member said, noting that cohort comparisons (for example, comparing this year’s third graders with last year’s third graders) do not track the same students over time and can produce misleading swings. Dr. McGahn told trustees the district’s MAP (NWEA) reports and upcoming NJSLA results will be paired with strand-level breakdowns to give building leaders precise diagnostic information.

Trustees focused on several recurring themes:

- Cohort and COVID effects: Members noted that current middle-school cohorts experienced early-grade disruptions; a board member observed that “those kids are still going to be experiencing the repercussions of the learning loss” from earlier interruptions. Administrators said those cohort patterns make interpretation of single-year percentage changes more complex and argued for multi-year tracking.

- English-language learners and attendance: Several trustees and staff flagged growth in the ESL population and urged that the district factor language supports into any achievement plans.

- Resource link to goals: Board members emphasized that setting improvement expectations should be paired with an explicit commitment to provide the resources needed — additional interventionists, revised curriculum materials or adjusted class assignments — and that the board needs to know what supports the administration recommends to reach target outcomes.

Administrators will return to the board with refined targets and an implementation plan that identifies the interventions and funding the district needs to pursue those targets. The board also discussed keeping broader ‘‘whole child’’ measures in view so that academic expectations do not inadvertently narrow instruction to test-prep.

Superintendent Dr. McGahn said staff will provide the more granular, strand-level results from NJSLA when they become available and will propose targeted strategies tied to specific grade bands and standards.