North Wasco County SD 21 reviews LPGT data, outlines integrated guidance timeline

Dr. Bunnell opened the North Wasco County SD 21 board work session on Jan. 16 by framing a district data review around state Longitudinal Performance Growth Targets (LPGTs). "There are 5 longitudinal performance growth targets. There are 5 that we are measured by, at the state level, and that is our regular attender data, our 3rd grade reading proficiency rates, 9th grade on track to graduation, on time graduation, and then our 5 year completion rates," Dr. Bunnell said.

The review focused on three LPGTs that are not embargoed and available for district use: regular attender, 3rd-grade reading proficiency and 9th-grade on-track. Dr. Bunnell reminded the board that the "regular attender" metric is defined by the state as students who attend 90% or more of enrolled days from their start date until May 1. She also noted that on-time graduation and five-year completion rates remain embargoed and therefore were not discussed as final figures during the session.

Board and staff discussion used the Atlas protocol to interpret the data and surface implications for district systems. Shannon, the district TLA director, described the integrated guidance planning process that the district will use to align multiple grants and programs. She told the board the planning team will reconvene in February to form recommendations and that she will present a draft integrated guidance application at the regular school board meeting on March 20. "…the team will start to make recommendations. And then in March, I will present a draft of our integrated guidance application to you at the school board meeting on March 20th," Shannon said. The district intends to submit the finalized application to the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) by the end of April.

Principals summarized school-level findings and implications. Principal Rondell said Chenoweth Elementary showed improved attendance for economically disadvantaged students, English learners and Hispanic/Latino students, along with notable increases in students exiting ELD services: "We had 11 students...exit ELD services, and 14 total last year. This is a 50% increase from previous years," Rondell said, crediting the dual-language expansion and co-planning with ELD staff.

At Dry Hollow, Principal Lloyd described an outreach effort that contacted about 80 families; roughly 40 of those students have had 100% attendance since contact. "We reached out in a lot of different ways. And 40 of the 80 kids...have had 100% attendance since we got in touch with them," Lloyd said.

Middle school leadership described pilot attendance targets and expanded intervention offerings. Principal Kilgore said a pilot linking 80% attendance targets to extracurricular participation has produced improved attendance and greater family engagement. Innovations Academy principal Scholtes described a campus where many incoming students are credit deficient and 9th-grade off-track; Scholtes said the school is adapting grading, program delivery and hybrid/virtual options to capture engagement and credit recovery. Scholtes also reported that Innovations’ regular-attender rate in the current available data is low and that the school is exploring ways to reflect engagement that occurs outside daily seat time.

High school principal Evans reviewed long-term graduation trends and stressed the predictive importance of 9th-grade coursework, particularly algebra. Evans described the district's historical gains and pandemic-era setbacks and said recovery is underway; he noted some recent 2024 numbers remain embargoed but that work continues on 2025 cohort data. He emphasized disaggregation and correlation of data to target subgroups, naming special education as a persistent focal group needing targeted supports.

Across schools, leaders identified common priorities: strengthen attendance efforts, expand sustained professional learning (including science of reading training at elementary levels), scale targeted interventions (including math and reading supports), and center equity when setting school policies and resource allocation. Staff described ongoing empathy interviews with families to probe barriers to attendance (for example, whether walk-zone students face safety barriers) and local analyses showing walk-zone elementary students have, in some cases, better attendance than those who rely on busing.

No formal board votes or motions were recorded in the transcript. Staff described next steps and assignments: principals will receive deeper school-level LPGT and disaggregated data after the work session; the integrated guidance planning team will continue monthly meetings and submit a draft to the board March 20; the final integrated guidance application will be sent to ODE by the end of April. Shannon and data staff will continue needs analyses and share follow-up materials with the board.

Why this matters: LPGTs are state-level measures tied to grant planning and program alignment; the integrated guidance process bundles multiple funding streams so strategies and outcomes align districtwide. The board heard multiple school-level examples of how attendance and targeted programs intersect with literacy and high-school on-track indicators — metrics that ODE and future grant reviewers will use to evaluate district plans.

The session closed with agreement to reconvene on additional data in April for a deeper longitudinal review and to continue aligning programs and staffing to support attendance, early literacy and 9th-grade on-track outcomes.