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Tolman Elementary credits staff-led interventions for large test-score gains
Summary
Tolman Elementary staff presented to the Davis County School District board workshop about substantial gains on RISE and Acadience measures, attributing improvements to weekly PLCs, coaching cycles, schedule changes and targeted interventions for multilingual and low-income students.
Megan Fairborn, principal at Tolman Elementary, told the Davis County School District board workshop that Tolman saw “huge gains” on multiple measures after a multi-pronged effort by staff.
Fairborn said the school mission—"the Tolman community ensures all students belong while learning at high levels"—guided the work. She introduced a team of teachers and specialists who described specific strategies they said produced measurable improvements.
The presentation summarized recent assessment outcomes. Administrative intern Adam (last name not specified) said the lowest-performing 25% of students increased by 13.9 percentage points on RISE growth measures from 2023 to 2024, bringing that group to 57.4%. He also reported a 13.1% increase in RISE ELA and a district ranking jump for Tolman on Acadience reading from 33rd to 16th between 2022 and 2024. Fairborn and staff highlighted additional gains for specific subgroups: Acadience reading for K–6 rose by about 9% from 2022–2024; RISE ELA for low-income students rose by 17.8% since 2022; Acadience math for low-income students rose by 18.2% from 2023 to 2024; and multilingual learners’ Acadience math increased by 41.7% from 2023 to 2024.
Jody Andre, Tolman’s literacy coach, described classroom- and teacher-focused systems she said supported those gains: weekly PLCs (professional learning communities) with guaranteed staff attendance for support roles, monthly LCMT meetings, recurring data dives around benchmarks, and coaching cycles using Jim Knight’s impact cycle. "How did we get this data? Well, one of the ways is through PLCs," Andre said, describing weekly, data-driven grade-level meetings.
Nicole Crandall, the kindergarten teacher, described a kindergarten initiative called “ABC crowns,” a grade-level nonnegotiable skill requiring students to demonstrate letter names and sounds before advancing. She said the program increased classroom cohesion and student ownership: "Those little faces...standing in front of the administration and boldly proclaiming that they know this skill and they are ready to move on to the next thing."
Bree Lopez, the special education teacher, credited schedule changes and additional aid time with significant growth for students in SPED: she said SPED minutes increased from 30 minutes four times per week to 45 minutes five times per week and an extra aide was hired using trust lands funds to reduce group sizes.
Emily Sullivan, the school counselor, described social supports and programs—full-time counseling funded in part by TSSA money, a trained student Hope Squad, a house system and schoolwide celebration structures—that staff said reduced absenteeism and supported whole-student success.
Board members and the superintendent praised the presentation and asked no substantive follow-up questions. Fairborn said she brought staff forward so the board could recognize them: "When they do, they can be reminded of all the times they have wrapped their arms around one of our Tolman Tigers in love and helped them belong while learning at high levels."
