Detroit Public Schools Community District officials presented midyear assessment data showing incremental improvements in literacy, math, science and social studies on I‑Ready and PSAT indicators, and urged more explicit goals and attendance‑adjusted analyses to better interpret progress.

Superintendent Dr. Beatty told the Academic Committee the district is using I‑Ready for K–8 literacy and math projections into the M‑STEP state test, locally developed science and social‑studies assessments, and PSAT results at the high‑school level. He said midyear comparisons across three years show more students at or above grade level and fewer students three or more grade levels below, with notable kindergarten gains that the district links to expanded academic interventionists in K–2 and related investments from its literacy lawsuit plan.

Beatty cautioned that midyear growth percentages can appear lower because the measure tracks "one or more years of growth" and is harder to achieve for students already at or above grade level. He said more than 80 percent of schools showed increases in at‑or‑above grade‑level performance at midyear. Board members asked for explicit target lines on future slides so the committee can judge progress against goals rather than only against past performance.

Members pressed for deeper analysis connecting chronic absenteeism and tutoring hours to academic outcomes. Board members said the district should present data sliced by students who are chronically absent (nine or more absences) and by time‑on‑tutoring to show whether interventions are applied equitably and working. The superintendent agreed to add comparative goal lines and to provide presentations that disaggregate results by attendance and intervention dosage at the next meeting.

The committee also discussed national comparisons. Beatty said NAEP and state assessments are not directly comparable to I‑Ready because states use different tests and proficiency thresholds; NAEP offers the closest national comparison but is a sampled assessment rather than a census of students. He said prior independent analyses showed DPSCD's improvement outpaced most peers in recent years, but that absolute performance remains low and must be accelerated.