Volusia County Schools report small gains in literacy and math at midyear progress review

Volusia County Schools officials presented a midyear progress review on March 11, saying the district has seen modest increases in several state and district assessments and is deploying targeted small‑group supports before end‑of‑year exams.

Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin opened the workshop by describing the session as a “midyear course correction plan” tied to the district strategic plan’s single goal of “engaging all students in high levels of learning every day.” Dr. Valle, the district’s teaching and learning lead, then summarized cross‑content work from early learning through high school.

Early learning coordinator Jessica Duncan said the district’s VPK Star early literacy data show an increase: “You can see that we have increased into 82 percent,” she said of students meeting the state expectation at the midyear monitoring point. Duncan credited a district Canvas resource for VPK teachers, implementation of the Nemours Reading BrightStart program for small‑group instruction, data chats with resource teachers, and enrollment in the New Worlds Reading initiative as actions supporting that growth.

District coordinators reported growth in other areas from last school year to this school year: English language arts progress monitoring rose about 2 percent systemwide and math rose about 3 percent on the state progress monitoring measure that covers grades 3–8. The district’s Volusia benchmark assessment (VBA), which measures only recently taught content and supplements state monitoring, also showed increases across multiple grades.

Elementary and early grades: The kindergarten‑through‑second grade team described expanded adoption of science‑of‑reading materials and more school sites receiving “Being a Reader” resources and interventions. Staff said cohort tracking shows percent‑to‑percent increases as groups progress from kindergarten through second grade.

Grades 3–5 and middle school: District staff said grades 3–5 math rose about 5 percent year over year and middle school English saw notable gains, with particular improvement in sixth grade between monitoring windows. The district has provided Everglades workbooks and mathematics intervention kits and offered targeted professional learning tied to the state’s “big M” mathematics guidance.

High school: Staff reported gains in high school ELA cohorts, including an increase for the cohort that was ninth graders last year and are now 10th graders. The district emphasized implementation of small group instruction at the secondary level and curriculum map revisions to add small‑group opportunities.

Algebra and course progression: The district clarified a structural change for seventh‑grade accelerated math. Students in the accelerated seventh‑grade course now take the eighth‑grade assessment because the accelerated class covers the full eighth‑grade benchmarks; the district said this change explains a relative dip in seventh‑grade scores and an increase in eighth‑grade results. District staff also described algebra 1a as a half‑year course taught across a full year to fill prior‑skill gaps before full Algebra 1.

Assessments and next steps: Kyle Shicker (REA/data) and other staff described timelines: there are roughly six weeks between VBA and the next state progress monitoring window, a period used to adjust student placements and small‑group rosters. Staff said district teams and external partners (Carnegie Learning, Bailey Education Group) are providing supplemental support at selected campuses and that spring break camps and Saturday boot camps are being used for remediation in some schools.

Why it matters: District staff emphasized the distinction between the state progress monitoring (which samples a year’s worth of benchmarks) and the VBA (which focuses on recently taught content). Officials said the VBA is useful for allocating short‑term, targeted support that they believe will affect end‑of‑year results and EOC outcomes for high school courses.

What was not decided: The workshop was a progress review; no board motions or formal votes were taken on instructional policy during the session. Board members asked for more granular follow‑up information by email, including cohort‑level comparisons that track where groups finished the prior year and their status this year.