District principals report midyear gains, tighten focus on students with disabilities

Principals from more than a half-dozen district schools told the school board at a midyear review that they are seeing measurable gains in reading and math while prioritizing support for students with disabilities.

The presentations, made during the board’s agenda meeting under “schoolwide improvement plan midyear reflection,” summarized progress monitoring (PM) results, adjustments to instruction and next steps for the second half of the year.

The districtwide theme was the same across schools: strengthen tier‑1 instruction, expand targeted small‑group interventions and use data from frequent progress monitoring to guide tutoring and staffing. Several principals cited professional learning communities (PLCs) and a district-supported planning framework known as the Solution Tree “15‑day challenge” to pace instruction and plan targeted interventions.

At Belter Elementary, the principal reported that 30% of students were on grade level at Progress Monitoring 1, rising to 46% at PM2…