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Interim superintendent presents reading results; STAR met targets while new VALS assessment needs more trend data
Summary
Interim superintendent Dr. James Pohl reviewed grade-level reading measures (VALS and STAR), outlined progress and remaining gaps, and told the board the division will correlate STAR and new SOL results before setting multiyear targets.
Interim Superintendent Dr. James Pohl presented results on the board's grade-level reading goals, telling the School Board that Norfolk Public Schools made gains on several interim measures but that the division needs more trend data on a new state assessment before setting long-term SOL targets.
Pohl described two measures: a new VALS early-literacy assessment used this year and the district's STAR benchmark data. He said the VALS spring results left students in the grade "14.3 points ahead" of students in the low-risk category and that the percentage of students identified as needing additional support decreased overall by 4.1 points across the year despite a spring increase from winter. He cautioned the board that VALS is a new assessment and "it takes a year to really get into it," so the division will prefer multi-year trends before fixing long-term SOL goals.
On STAR benchmarks, Pohl reported stronger, reportable data: the percentage of grade students proficient in reading increased from fall 2024 to spring 2025 by 8.3 percentage points and met the target set for the year. He noted a 19.8-point increase in proficient students from fall 2023 to fall 2024 and a 13.9-point decrease in the percent of students scoring in the urgent intervention band from fall to spring for existing graders. Pohl recommended continuing school-level reading plans, strengthening kindergarten Tier 1 foundational skills, refining K-2 curriculum pacing and phonics, and expanding professional learning communities and leader coaching.
Board members asked technical and programmatic questions. One member asked whether VALS is harder than the previous PALS test; Pohl replied, "VALS covers more than PALS...it's hard to say but always the spring assessment has always been more difficult because it...jumps up in the requirements." Another member asked which interventions drove fall-to-winter growth; Pohl said the primary driver was individualized reading plans and targeted professional development for reading specialists and teachers.
On subgroup performance, the presentation noted that the black student subgroup showed steady gains on STAR: proficiency rose from 43.3% (baseline) to 57.8% this spring, an increase of 14.5 percentage points since measurement began, but the division narrowly missed a 58% target by 0.2 points for 2024-25. Pohl said staff will disaggregate data by subgroup and school to target supports and will correlate STAR and SOL outcomes once final SOL results are available.
No formal vote was taken; board members directed staff to use student-by-student VALS and STAR data to inform reading plans and to report back with correlated SOL/STAR analysis before establishing final multiyear SOL targets.
