Mountain View Whisman sees mixed results on state dashboard; district outlines steps to reduce absenteeism and boost reading and math

Mountain View Whisman School District officials told the Board of Trustees on Jan. 16 that the district’s 2024 California School Dashboard shows strong overall academic ratings but continuing declines or low ratings for several high‑need student subgroups, and that chronic absenteeism and suspensions remain areas of concern.

Chief Academic Office designee Cindy Nguyen presented the dashboard overview and said the state’s dashboard compares 2022–23 and 2023–24 school years and reports both level and direction of change. Nguyen said the district earned “high” overall academic indicators but that many at‑risk subgroups — including students eligible for free or reduced‑price meals, English learners and students with disabilities — scored in the low or very low ranges. The dashboard also showed gains on chronic absenteeism districtwide, Nguyen said, but rates remain higher than pre‑pandemic levels. Suspension rates rose in 2023–24, she added, though the district’s December 2024 data indicated a lower suspension rate (1.4%) than the prior year.

Nguyen said the English Learner Progress Indicator was rated “low” districtwide with a decrease in students progressing toward English proficiency, noting that the English‑learner population is fluid (reclassification and newcomer students change the composition of that subgroup). On the academic indicators based on the Smarter Balanced (SBAC) assessments, Nguyen said the district’s overall rating was high but that disaggregated results show “low” or “very low” ratings for some subgroups at particular schools.

In a second presentation, Curriculum and Assessment staff summarized I‑Ready Diagnostic 2 (midyear) results. The district‑wide snapshot showed “similar” proficiency and annual typical growth to last year but stronger growth in primary grades (K–2). Nguyen highlighted large midyear gains at some sites — for example, Castro and Monteloma kindergartens increased by roughly 33–35 percentage points from Diagnostic 1 to Diagnostic 2 — and said those early‑grade gains reflect the district’s new evidence‑based elementary reading curriculum and focused interventions.

Board members and staff discussed causes and responses. Trustee Devin Conley said county student services colleagues recommended flags in student records (for example, McKinney‑Vento unhoused students) so staff responding to disciplinary referrals would see that suspension is not an appropriate response and would be directed to alternatives. Nguyen said PowerSchool contains a McKinney‑Vento icon and that the district is working on alternatives to suspension, restorative practices and additional professional development for staff.

Superintendent (Interim) Dr. Skelly and staff reviewed action steps tied to the dashboard and I‑Ready findings: refine attendance protocols and daily absence tracking; add elementary counselors and strengthen behavior supports; expand evidence‑based reading interventions and teacher coaching; add newcomer teacher staffing; and begin a multi‑year math curriculum review and adoption process.

Public commenters, including former trustee Steven Nelson and several parents and community members, urged faster and larger investments targeted to schools and students with the largest gaps, asked for more classroom modernization and after‑school and parent‑volunteer supports, and flagged disparities among racial and socioeconomic groups.

Nguyen and district leaders said principals and site teams are already using the I‑Ready and other local measures to revise site plans and identify individual students for tiered interventions. The district said it will continue to align Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) work and school plans with dashboard results and report updates to the board.

Ending: Trustees asked staff to continue reporting progress and to include more site‑level detail in future updates. The board’s discussion closed with a recognition that the district’s multi‑tiered approach must pair academic interventions with supports to improve attendance, behavior and social‑emotional needs.