Hancock County schools report mixed benchmark results; district expands Accelerate interventions and tutoring

Hancock County School District officials reported mixed midyear benchmark results at the Jan. 24 board meeting and described program changes to increase targeted intervention time for students who are behind.

District leaders said winter benchmark data show year-over-year gains in reading overall and substantial growth among the district’s bottom 25% of students, while math remains an area of concern in several grades. To respond, schools expanded an “Accelerate” schedule that inserts RTI (response to intervention) time each morning after first period three days per week and assigned students to small, skill-focused groups.

“From term 1 to term 2 we went from 42% proficient in reading to 44%,” a school presenter said, adding that the bottom 25 in reading rose about 12 percentage points and overall growth increased roughly 6 points. The presenter said the school had run nine days of the Accelerate schedule before Thanksgiving and is scheduling three accelerated days weekly in the spring to make up lost instructional hours if needed.

Officials said the district hired two certified ATSI tutors and one tutor who has passed required assessments and is awaiting licensure, and that non-tested teachers have volunteered to use resources such as Khan Academy to run targeted math practice and bell‑ringer activities. School staff described cross-campus “all hands on deck” classroom support during Accelerate sessions, with curriculum staff and other personnel serving in classrooms.

The presentation also described a targeted program that allows some middle-school students who are significantly behind to complete grade-level work on an accelerated schedule and earn high-school credit. The presenter said 9 students recently promoted to high school completed accelerated coursework in middle school; of 21 students in the accelerated pathway, only two were returned to regular classes after review. District staff said the pathway was reducing the number of students two or more years behind and improving graduation‑rate prospects.

District leaders cautioned that benchmark measures represent different student cohorts across years and emphasized growth measures as the key accountability metric. They also noted teacher turnover and a recent fifth‑grade teacher vacancy that contributed to lower science results at one grade level and outlined plans to address staffing and instruction.

Board members asked about the timeline for the Accelerate schedule, implementation fidelity, and whether the expanded schedule could be sustained; staff said the approach began about two weeks before Thanksgiving and yielded nine hours of intensive instruction during that initial period. Staff also said principals had data chats with teachers and that interventions would be individualized to student needs.

District officials said they would continue monitoring benchmarks and align classroom instruction to state assessment standards so grades and test results reflect consistent rigor.

The presentation was part of a longer accountability overview given to the board, which included districtwide context on state testing and the accountability model.