District reports small gains on Forward, ACT; board discusses ‘win time’ and personal support plans
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Summary
District presenters told the board the 2024–25 Forward and ACT-related results show modest year‑to‑year increases overall, with notable cohort and subgroup variation; the district plans new instructional structures including daily ‘win time,’ personal support plans and stronger secondary math resources.
Alyssa (district teaching-and-learning lead) and Corey Sack (manager of data) presented district-level achievement results Tuesday, saying the district saw modest overall increases in proficiency on the Forward exam and ACT‑related measures but persistent opportunity gaps for some student groups.
Key points presented: Forward ELA proficiency rose modestly (districtwide from about 38% to 39% meeting/advanced); the largest single-year increases occurred in some grades (sixth grade ELA +8 percentage points) while fourth grade saw declines. For high school measures, the district reported an overall 4‑point gain on preACT/ACT literacy with a 14‑point increase reported for the eleventh‑grade cohort; math showed smaller gains but notable cohort declines in the tenth‑grade year (a 10‑point drop from ninth to tenth grade in one cohort). District presenters emphasized that the state average for one high‑school literacy measure was 40% and the district was at 39%.
Presenters described a three‑part strategy to continue progress: (1) strengthen universal, research‑based core instruction K–12 and build a consistent curriculum and assessment architecture; (2) expand the district’s “personal support plans” (previously used in early literacy) to more students and to math so teachers can target lagging skills and monitor progress; and (3) implement a scheduled daily intervention/enrichment block (referred to as “win time”) so teams can rotate small groups, provide targeted instruction or enrichment, and deploy specialists. The district also described plans to adopt a comprehensive secondary math program (Carnegie Learning) with coaching and professional development.
Board members asked how the district will identify incoming students’ needs (screeners are administered and out‑of‑state records can be requested), how “win time” is scheduled (elementary: 30 minutes each for literacy and math; secondary: 30 minutes daily with scheduling challenges due to block schedules), and who will build personal support plans (teachers, supported by instructional coordinators and collaborative team time). The board emphasized communicating options to families and tracking student pathways, and directors said an academic‑career‑planning coordinator will improve tracking of student post‑secondary and career goals.
District staff said the next public data update will include fall FastBridge screener results and school‑level state report cards in October–November.