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District reports midyear I‑Ready progress; board hears implications of Read to Succeed law for third grade
Summary
District staff presented I‑Ready midyear results showing progress on reading typical and stretch growth and described how Read to Succeed cut scores and summer-school testing affect third-grade promotion; board members asked about testing frequency and parent notification.
District staff presented midyear I‑Ready assessment results to the Clover School District board and described how the state Read to Succeed law interacts with local practice for third-grade promotion.
The presenter said I‑Ready measures typical and stretch growth and gives midyear projections for SC Ready proficiency. At midyear, districtwide progress toward typical growth in reading was about 80 percent; roughly 42 percent of students had met typical (one-year) growth and about 18 percent had met the stretch-growth targets, the presenter said. For mathematics the presenter said progress was lower — about 65 percent toward typical growth with 31 percent of students meeting a tier‑1 typical-growth target and about 11 percent meeting stretch targets.
The staff member explained that I‑Ready’s midyear projection maps to SC Ready and that, if most students meet typical growth, reading proficiency could project near 70 percent on SC Ready; meeting stretch targets would raise that projection to roughly 77 percent. For math the presenter said projections were about 64 percent proficiency under typical growth and 72 percent under stretch-growth scenarios.
Board discussion then focused on the state Read to Succeed law and its implications for third-grade retention. Board members were told the law uses SC Ready scale scores as one factor for retention decisions; students who “do not meet” the cut score and who do not qualify for a good-cause exemption (for example an Individualized Education Program) may be retained unless they attend summer school and achieve the required scale score on the district’s end‑of‑summer administration of the I‑Ready diagnostic. The presenter said the cut score changed this year and characterized third grade as “very high stakes.”
Members asked how frequently I‑Ready is administered; staff said diagnostics run three times per year (fall, midyear, spring) and that I‑Ready is also a daily/weekly instructional platform. Staff described recommended weekly I‑Ready time (about 30–45 minutes per subject) and said principals and teachers are already notifying families when students are at risk of not meeting required scores to avoid a late surprise in May.
Board members raised questions about expansion of summer interventions for younger grades; staff said the state is directing districts to identify students below grade level earlier and that summer programming for younger grades is under discussion but funding for extended kindergarten summer school had not been set.
The presentation also included high-school on‑track metrics: presenters reported approximately 88 percent of freshmen had earned four credits and about 83 percent of sophomores had earned 12 credits at this point of the year, both up from the prior year.
Direct quotes in this article come from the district presenter and were read at the meeting; other descriptions are drawn from the board discussion and district comments recorded in the meeting transcript.
