Sarasota schools report midyear gains in reading, roll out tighter 'push plans' for math and literacy

Sarasota County School District leaders presented midyear progress-monitoring (PM2) results Feb. 4, saying the system has made measurable gains in reading and graduation rates while rolling out targeted interventions to address math declines.

Superintendent Conner said districtwide scores on state progress-monitoring assessments showed “tremendous progress” in several categories and that the district is recalibrating its 2025 strategic-plan goals after exceeding many 2024 targets. He noted the district’s 2024 graduation rate moved from 90.3% to 92.5%.

The results matter because the PM series feeds local monitoring and state accountability calculations, district staff said. “We are aggressively monitoring the data,” Superintendent Conner told the board, adding that the district will combine PM2, PM3 and local curriculum assessments to shape interventions.

Chief academic staff described how the district is turning data into action. Academic-services leader Rachel O’Day (title in transcript: academic services team lead) said Sarasota is expanding the literacy work that lifted third grade last year into a K–12 system called responsive instruction. That work includes literacy coaches, interventionists and a district-developed “Win Roadmap” (What I Need) that preserves a scheduled block outside the core instruction for remediation or acceleration.

“Responsive instruction is the adaptation of instruction to meet the needs of every student every day,” O’Day said. She and elementary chief Manelli said the Win Roadmap guides teachers to group students by need, select district-vetted resources and deploy program specialists into schools to support implementation.

For intensive reading, high schools moved to the Read 180 model. Doctor Green (High School Curriculum Director) said Read 180 classrooms use small-group instruction and that teachers have attended district-led professional learning communities and in-person coaching. For middle grades, district staff introduced Phonics for Reading and a Project 8 initiative to lift level-1/level-2 readers with multiple small-group sessions per week.

The district also emphasized a tailored high-school strategy called Project 10, a weekly, senior-by-senior review that assigns a committed adult to each at‑risk senior, coordinates test prep or alternative pathways, and tracks rapid follow-up.

Math is an area flagged for more work. Staff said hurricane-related lost instructional days and the standards’ cumulative nature contributed to PM2 math declines; the district is layering local curriculum assessments (Performance Matters, DreamBox) with monthly professional learning, five-week targeted reteach cycles and other supports to narrow gaps.

Board members welcomed the emphasis on systemwide supports and queried how students with IEPs and 504 plans are included. O’Day said those students are considered in push plans and scheduling decisions, and that the district aligns IEP goals and general-education interventions rather than piling uncoordinated services on a student.

Officials said they will continue midyear impact reviews and principal-level “empower” meetings to hold schools accountable for push-plan implementation and to deploy program specialists where data shows the need.

Ending: District leaders plan to track PM2-to-PM3 progress and return to the board with updates; the superintendent said goals will be adjusted to reflect 2024 gains and midyear trends.