New Berlin board hears spring screener results, outlines steps to narrow gaps for English learners and students with disabilities

The Board of Education of the School District of New Berlin received a presentation on spring universal screening results and district next steps during its meeting, where district leaders described gains in oral reading fluency and math automaticity while noting persistent gaps for English learners and students with disabilities.

District Director of Student Services Amanda Mizerkowitz told the board that FastBridge remains the district’s primary universal screener for most grades and that the district used AIMSweb Plus this winter because of a new state requirement. "FastBridge is our consistent universal screening tool that we use kindergarten through grade," Mizerkowitz said. She and other instructional leaders said they are using those data, classroom assessments and progress monitoring to create a district action plan and school-level plans through a leadership process they called SAIL.

The presentation included several quantitative points staff highlighted for the board. Mizerkowitz reported overall enrollment was down by five students between the certified September count and the May count, while the district saw 60 more students classified as economically disadvantaged and 19 additional students identified as English learners in the September count. Staff also reported a rise in students with individualized education programs (IEPs) at the elementary level, with about 15 more students identified during the school year, and nearly 10 fewer students exiting special education at the secondary level.

Kelly Kwiatkowski, director of secondary teaching and learning, summarized results from FastBridge and AIMSweb comparisons. She said the district reached roughly the benchmark goal of core-curriculum effectiveness—"a solid curriculum will reach at least 80% of students"—in several measures, including districtwide oral reading fluency where the district rose from about 73% in the fall to 81% in spring on a FastBridge measure. At the same time, Kwiatkowski stressed subgroup gaps remained: "The gap with the subgroups is a concern," she said, noting students with disabilities grew from 37% to 48% on a key measure but still lag behind peers.

Matt Stepniewski, director of elementary teaching and learning, described differences between the two screeners used this year and the implications for longitudinal analysis. "AIMSweb is the one that the state says we have to do now for kindergarten through grade," he said, adding that the AIMSweb fluency task differs in passage selection and scoring from FastBridge. Stepniewski said the district will administer AIMSweb in grades K–3 and continue FastBridge in grades 4–9 going forward to preserve some longitudinal continuity.

When a board member asked whether fluency and comprehension scores typically align, Kwiatkowski said fluency is an indicator of comprehension but not a guarantee: "If the fluency is low, literacy coaches will administer diagnostics. ... If they did really well in fluency, but not on comprehension, okay. Are they reading too fast? Do they need more of the prompts ... go back and cite your evidence." Staff said coaches and diagnostics inform targeted interventions.

Board members pressed for clarity on whether recent demographic shifts help explain flat or declining scores in some measures. Superintendent Garza and Mizerkowitz said the district has increased staffing for English learners and students with disabilities over the past two to three years and noted the board previously approved an additional English-learner instructional coach. Mizerkowitz described a multi-tiered approach: coaching teachers to provide stronger tier‑1 instruction, using EL teachers and paraprofessionals for targeted intervention, and directing intensive services where data show stagnation.

Staff also described instructional changes underway: a math curriculum pilot next year, additional FastBridge math diagnostics to sharpen intervention targets, and use of a leadership academy to write district and school action plans that funnel to classroom-level student learning objectives. Kwiatkowski said teachers will pilot a new math curriculum next year and that alignment work aims to address subgroup shortfalls, particularly in mathematics for students with disabilities.

The board did not take a formal vote tied to the presentation; staff asked for continued board support and said they will bring refined datasets, including ACT and Forward exam results, into upcoming reviews so the board can track progress and gaps as part of its goals and monitoring cycle.