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Teaching and Learning report highlights move to STAR screener, MTSS alignment and gains in intervention exits
Summary
Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Burton outlined curriculum and assessment changes including a districtwide switch to the STAR universal screener, expanded AP and IB offerings, MTSS alignment and midyear exit rates for intervention programs.
Jennifer Burton, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, presented the state of instruction for City Schools of Decatur on April 15, focusing on curriculum access, universal screening, multi‑tiered supports and professional learning.
Key changes and results: the district replaced MAP with the STAR assessment system as its universal screener and moved to curriculum resources hosted centrally so teachers can find materials in one place. Burton said the district used the MTSS framework to guide interventions and reported that midyear exits from the Early Intervention Program (EIP) were 35% in reading and 30% in math, numbers the administration described as evidence the interventions were having impact.
Burton described a range of instructional supports: Get Better Faster coaching for instructional coaches, expanded honors and AP course availability (including new AP precalculus, AP music theory, and AP African American studies next year), and the IB program’s successful five‑year reevaluation. She also noted the district’s efforts to align MTSS to state guidance and to add school‑based supports and coaching positions to sustain the model.
On interventions, Burton highlighted HALT, a reading fluency program used with 44 students this year; nearly 25% of those students met their midyear fluency goal and no longer required the intervention. The district also reported a 93% online course pass rate for the first semester of its CSD Virtual Academy and an effort to expand summer and winter credit recovery processes.
Professional learning: Burton said the district ran over 60 professional development sessions this year with high satisfaction (average rating 4.5 out of 5 from roughly 650 surveys). The board asked about evaluation of PLC and coaching materials; Burton said rollout included principal, assistant principal and coach training and initial feedback has been positive.
Next steps listed included adding three school‑based support positions to strengthen MTSS implementation, piloting extended advanced content, and building an AP Capstone program at Decatur High School.
