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Gaston County Schools unveils districtwide strategy emphasizing interim assessments, PLCs and reteach days
Summary
District leaders presented a ‘leading, teaching and learning’ plan that centers on interim assessments, common curriculum pacing, professional learning communities and coaching to drive student outcomes; district will monitor inputs and correlate to state tests.
At the Oct. 20 board meeting, Associate Superintendent Tanya Kells and academic services staff presented the district's 2025–26 strategy for “leading, teaching and learning,” emphasizing interim assessments, common pacing guides, reteach days and data-driven professional learning.
Kells told the board the plan aims to increase grade‑level proficiency, raise the percentage of schools meeting or exceeding growth, reduce low‑performing schools and improve graduation and English‑learner progress. “Our ultimate goal is graduation,” Kells said.
District staff described three pillars: leadership supports (executive directors conducting monthly school visits and providing uniform feedback), teaching (refined curriculum documents, daily pacing and added reteach days) and learning (district interim assessments with next‑day data reports and focused data‑analysis planning days for teachers). Leaders said the district has prioritized fourth‑grade math, seventh‑grade math and Math I for initial intensive work.
Presenters said interim assessments will run every six to eight weeks in core subjects, with district reports available the day after administrations so principals and teachers can plan reteach lessons immediately. Staff described a common classroom walk‑through tool and a standardized feedback protocol for principals to provide “affirmation, illustration of impact and a challenge” for teachers.
Board members asked how effectiveness will be measured. Kells and other presenters said long‑term measures include end‑of‑grade and EOC results, while short‑term monitoring will track teacher behaviors, coaching logs, interim assessment gains and implementation fidelity. The presenters said new teacher support facilitators coach beginning teachers and that professional learning sessions allow teachers from across schools to collaborate on data and reteach plans.
No formal vote was taken on the presentation; the program and its timelines will appear in future committee agendas and the district said it will present assessment calendars and proposed adjustments as the year progresses.
