Amina Afdadell, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, and Isis Buchanan, director of educational equity, presented ISD 191’s combined Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness (CACR) and Achievement and Integration (A&I) progress report on Oct. 23.

Afdadell told the board that the state guide for CACR was updated in 2023 and that the district has adjusted its reporting cadence accordingly. She said the district is in the third year of a three-year A&I plan (fiscal 2023–26) and that the 2025–26 school year will conclude that plan cycle. The presenters said the district coordinates the CACR and A&I goals to reduce duplication and to strengthen targeted strategies for groups that have been historically underserved.

Presenters highlighted early-literacy and kindergarten-readiness measures. The district had set a goal that 50% of incoming kindergarteners would meet a literacy-readiness benchmark; results were flat year over year at 42%. The report called out subgroup performance: BIPOC students overall met the kindergarten benchmark at 37% (goal 41%); Latino students met the goal at 13% (goal 20%); and Native/Indigenous students met it at 40% (goal 50%), with note that the Native/Indigenous subgroup is small (presenters said the group size was four or five).

Afdadell and Buchanan described several A&I-funded strategies in 2025: expansion of AVID elective sections and schoolwide AVID strategies (with about 600 secondary students participating in AVID across district sites), family and community partnership staffing (social workers and cultural liaisons), an Indigenous student and family engagement component supported by an American Indian Parent Advisory Committee and monthly family meetings, and additional culturally responsive systems and staff development. Director Afdadell noted that fiscal-year 2025 A&I revenue to the district was about $2,100,000 and that those funds support the named activities.

The report also summarized outcomes in college- and career-readiness measures and graduation: the district’s ACT composite average was 18.8 (goal 20); Burnsville High School four-year graduation rate dropped to 80% (district goal 88%); Burnsville Alternative School showed a 3 percentage-point increase toward the state minimum; and Virtual Academy saw the largest decrease year over year. Presenters said a disproportionate decline in graduation for Latino/Hispanic students in the class of 2024 was among the district’s continuing concerns.

Afdadell said the district will use SPA (student performance and achievement) reports across the school year to give the board deeper dives into literacy (January), disparities (March) and college- and career-readiness (April). The presenters said the district is exploring new partnership arrangements for the next A&I plan cycle (fiscal 2027–29) and that Bloomington Public Schools has expressed interest as a potential partner; Lakeville Area Schools is the district’s current partner.

Board members asked about concrete supports to increase participation in VPK/PPK and preschool (transportation, outreach, capacity). Afdadell said the district provides transportation for VPK students through the A&I program and that awareness/communication and site-based placements have improved access; she said more outreach via cultural liaisons is planned. Director Ault asked whether the district will track EL students after exit to see if earlier exit correlates with access to rigorous coursework; presenters agreed that longitudinal tracking was an important board request.

No board action was required. The district will present targeted SPA reports to the board in January through April with deeper analyses and recommended actions.