Acting superintendent cites I-Ready data, calls for 'science of reading' overhaul

Acting Superintendent Dr. Liese Bourne told the Newburgh City School District Board of Education on Feb. 11 that the district's standardized I-Ready data show only marginal improvement in reading and urged immediate investment in evidence-based reading instruction.

Bourne said the district’s end-of-year I-Ready results for 2021–2024 show 41 percent of students reading on or above grade level in 2021 and 42 percent in 2024, a net increase of one percentage point. She said math results rose from about 31 percent on or above grade level in 2020 to 37 percent in 2024. “Where do we go from here? It is imperative that we as a district move forward with the science of reading,” Bourne said.

The acting superintendent said the district will pursue partnerships to change classroom practice and teacher training. “Our leaders, teachers and teaching assistants must receive training on how to implement evidence based reading instruction,” she said. Bourne told the board she is in talks with the Reading League New York to support a shift in instruction and that American Reading Company, known as ARC, “is not working for our children” as a stand‑alone program.

Nut Graf: The update framed reading proficiency as the district’s top instructional priority and tied it to teacher training and curricular change. Speakers at the meeting — including teachers, parents and community advocates — urged that any plan prioritize teacher-led, research-based interventions rather than reliance on purchased programs used “with fidelity.”

Teachers and parents at the podium described classroom experience that, they say, supports Bourne’s assessment. Melissa Lamar, a district teacher and 30-year New Windsor taxpayer, said teachers have had to “change practice at a very fundamental level” and asked the district to make teacher training in the science of reading widely available. Lamar warned against “overreliance on programs” and said professional development has sometimes resembled vendor presentations rather than sustained teacher training.

Parent Ronaldo Santiago cited grade-by-grade data he reviewed and warned that strict program fidelity can hamper teachers’ ability to meet students where they are. “If you are teaching a sixth grader who reads at a third-grade level, the curriculum’s sixth-grade-only materials may handcuff our teachers,” Santiago said, adding that the district must preserve teacher judgment and interventions for students with wide-ranging needs.

Several board members asked for additional data and for plans that reach beyond elementary grades. Board member Mackenzie Boucher asked for high‑school data; Bourne said I-Ready coverage is K–8 and agreed to provide more information for higher grades. Board members and speakers repeatedly flagged early-childhood readiness (ages 0–4) and poverty as upstream factors the district cannot fully offset, but Bourne said solid K–2 instruction can still “bridge that gap.”

Bourne characterized the district’s immediate instructional aim as equipping teachers and school leaders with proven methods rather than switching a single vendor program. “No program will do what we need to do and we have to stop relying on programs,” she told the board, adding that districts that have shown improvement focused on training teachers in core, evidence‑based practice.

The presentation stressed that I-Ready is administered three times per year in kindergarten through eighth grade; Bourne said the district lacks a comparable five-year dataset because of the COVID‑19 disruption in 2019–20. She said grade-level slides in the report show a pattern of increasing numbers of students falling farther behind as they age.

The acting superintendent did not lay out a full, finalized plan at the meeting but pledged to return “very shortly” with concrete next steps and asked the community to participate. "We have to invest in our leaders, teachers, and teaching assistants so that they are equipped with the evidence based strategies that have been shown through research to work with all children," Bourne said.

Ending: Board members and public speakers expressed broad urgency and asked for follow-up materials on K–12 data, proposed professional development, timelines and costs. Bourne said she will share an implementation plan and welcomed community partners and teacher input as the district develops training and rollout details.