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High school, Clark Street presenters report reading gains and intervention expansion at MHS
Summary
Middleton High School and Clark Street presented school improvement work focused on literacy, competency‑based practices and targeted interventions, reporting cohort gains on a fall reading screener and a literacy intervention that exited students from urgent intervention levels.
Administrators from Middleton High School and Clark Street presented the board with overlapping school improvement plans Monday that prioritized literacy, aligned grade‑level standards and increased targeted interventions.
Jan Chenoweth, director of secondary curriculum, instruction and assessment, opened the presentation and introduced principals and associate principals from both schools. Jill Gerner, Clark Street principal, described her school’s competency‑based model and its long‑standing use of shared rubrics and feedback cycles to strengthen reading and writing across interdisciplinary seminars.
At Middleton High School, presenters said the year’s literacy goal requires that “all students will demonstrate the ability to engage with grade level texts and tasks independently by using teacher feedback,” and explained that the work focuses on aligning standards and instruction within professional learning communities (PLCs) and supporting students who struggle the most with reading.
Carmen Classy and other MHS staff described Principles of Literacy, a semester‑long intervention for students who score below the 10th percentile on the STAR screener. Presenters reported that 63 students began the semester in the intervention; 15 students have exited the program to date and 96 students improved their STAR scores after one semester. Presenters also said the number of ninth‑ and tenth‑grade students who reached the district benchmark (40th percentile) rose by 241 students compared with prior years’ fall results.
Board members pressed on logistics: most trustees asked whether PLCs have sufficient time to do the collaborative work and whether interventions are engaging for high‑school‑aged students. Presenters said common planning time exists but is limited, and that principals and coaches are working to support PLCs and make intervention materials appropriate for older students. The team noted that students can opt into the intervention (which may require trading an elective) and that some students voluntarily return to reading specialists during all‑school resource periods for extra help.
Trustees also raised concerns about students who remain below grade level despite prior interventions and asked administrators to include longitudinal data at a future learning session. Administrators said they will present additional cohort and long‑term progress data at an upcoming board learning session and in scheduled listening sessions with staff and students.
Presenters closed by noting new CAPS program additions (education and digital media marketing) planned for next year and by thanking staff for the work on literacy and special education professional learning.
The board did not take any formal votes on the high‑school or Clark Street reports Monday.
