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Whitnall reports winter screening results, details Act 20 personal reading plans for K4–3
Summary
District administrators told the board that 25.6% of K4–3 students met the state benchmark for receiving personal reading plans under Wisconsin Act 20; the district completed screening within a 10-school-day window and has begun weekly progress monitoring and diagnostics.
Whitnall School District administrators reported to the School Board on Feb. 10 the results of winter universal screening and steps the district has taken to meet Wisconsin Act 20 requirements, including issuing personal reading plans for elementary students.
Dr. Ryan, presenting the winter screening overview, said the district used AIMSweb Plus for K4–3 reading screening, FastBridge for early math and MAP Growth for grades 3–8. He said the district deployed diagnostic assessments for students who scored below state benchmarks and that those diagnostics informed instruction and grouping.
The district identified roughly 25.6% of its K4–3 students as meeting the Act 20 benchmark for a personal reading plan (students at or below the 25th percentile benchmark established in state guidance). Dr. Ryan told the board the district sent home 46 personal reading plans to families last week and asked parents to sign and return them.
“We sent home our personal reading plans last week to families of students who were identified, by that benchmark, and parents need to sign and return the plans,” Dr. Ryan said. “It includes specific information about progress monitoring, types of instruction that will be provided, measures for growth, student goal, and then some strategies for families to use at home with their students.”
Dr. Ryan said the district completed most of its universal screening within a 10-school-day window and that about 90% of diagnostic testing was also finished during that period. He told the board the screening approach differs by grade and instrument: AIMSweb Plus subtests for K4–3 varied by grade (letter naming, initial sounds, oral reading fluency), FastBridge early math and AMath for K4–2, and MAP Growth for grades 3–8.
On reading fluency, Dr. Ryan emphasized that oral reading fluency is a timed assessment (words correct per minute) and is the winter screening measure for first through third grade. He said some grade levels reflected median percentiles below the 50th percentile while comprehension and vocabulary median percentiles for second and third grade were higher (he cited group median percentiles about 70 for comprehension and about 60 for vocabulary for those grades), suggesting some students read accurately but more slowly.
The presenter said the district already has begun weekly progress monitoring for students with personal reading plans and expects to return to the board with progress-monitoring results at the board’s April meeting, followed by spring screening results and a summer update on how many students exited plans.
District staff described the diagnostic process required by Act 20: a set of targeted assessments (word reading fluency, rapid naming, spelling, listening comprehension, phonemic awareness) that together take about 20–30 minutes per student. Dr. Ryan said instructional coaches, interventionists and classroom teachers completed the diagnostics.
Board members pressed on accommodations and English learners. One board member asked whether English learners take the screener in English; Dr. Ryan confirmed the universal screener is administered in English but said the district used Spanish diagnostics selectively to gather more information for Spanish-speaking students.
Dr. Ryan also noted district training: K4–3 classroom teachers and elementary special education teachers are participating in AIM training; the district reported high participation in virtual communities of practice and that about 50% of the online AIM course was complete for staff at the time of the presentation. He said the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recently published a model promotion policy and that districts must adopt a third-to-fourth grade promotion policy by July 1 under current guidance.
Superintendent and board questions covered classroom-level responses (adjusting tier 1 instruction, decodables versus cold reads, grouping and progress monitoring), the timeline for returning personal reading-plan signatures (the district reported roughly 85% of plans returned at the time of the update) and how personal reading plans interact with special education IEPs.
Dr. Ryan said existing IEP reading goals satisfy the plan’s supplemental instruction; if diagnostics identify a need that is not covered in an IEP, the district’s pupil services team will follow usual processes to consider changes or add goals.
The board was told the district’s next steps include: continued weekly progress monitoring for plan students, an April update on progress monitoring and an April/May spring screening; a June/July summary of plan exits and additions; strengthening tier 2 classroom resources; and working with principals on transition steps from fifth to sixth grade. Dr. Ryan said the district also developed the early literacy remediation plan required by Act 20 and posted it to the district website.
No formal board action or vote was recorded during the presentation; the board asked staff to return with stated progress updates.
