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Superintendent reports midyear progress: kindergarten readiness up, dual-enrollment seats jump to 2,095
Summary
Superintendent Melissa Stilley and academic staff gave a midyear report showing improvements in early literacy measures and a large increase in dual-enrollment seats; district leaders highlighted intervention programs Lexia and Zearn as drivers of student growth.
The Tangipahoa Parish School Board received a midyear update Jan. 7 on superintendent performance goals and first-semester academic metrics showing early gains in literacy interventions and a substantial increase in dual-enrollment participation.
Dr. (Purcell/Fassell name varies in transcript) presented data showing kindergarten DIBELS results improved from 55% "well below" to 39% "well below" at midyear, with 16 percentage points of students showing improvement since the start of the year. Districtwide Lexia and Zearn usage also showed measurable growth: the presentation noted large week-to-week participation gains and that students who spend appropriate time on grade-level Zearn lessons show measurable growth. The district reported that 93% of students initially identified as foundational or below improved to 87% identified as below-but-improving in Lexia measures.
The board also heard that dual-enrollment seats rose from 18,92 (transcript number formatting) to 2,095 seats year over year; staff said the seats are free to students using SCA funds and include CTE and college-credit courses. Board members requested that CLEP and other exam-based college credits be included in future reports; staff acknowledged the current system does not fully capture CLEP data and said they would add it in subsequent updates.
Superintendent Stilley and academic staff framed the gains as early evidence that interventions (Lexia for literacy, Zearn for math) and targeted programs (dual enrollment, career-center offerings) are producing measurable improvement. No formal action was taken; staff offered a more detailed packet of data and graphs for board members and said a fuller end-of-year report will follow.
