Vancouver Public Schools presents dashboard, reports modest gains in math and mixed results in ELA

The Vancouver Public Schools Board of Directors heard an update Tuesday on the district's strategic‑plan performance dashboard and year‑one results toward five‑year academic goals in mathematics and English language arts.

Janelle Ephraim, interim associate superintendent leading the strategic plan work, told the board the dashboard on the VPS website compiles state reporting and local measures so the public can see progress on the district's vision of a "graduate" and strategic goals. "We're gonna focus on a strategic plan update for you this evening," Ephraim said.

The dashboard aggregates last school year's Smarter Balanced Assessment results, WIDA results, state attendance reporting, WA Kids and the district's Panorama social‑emotional survey, presenters said. "We've tried to capture those high‑leverage items that are definitely correlated to our vision of a graduate," Chris Gianotti, a presentation lead on assessment and accountability, said.

Math: small districtwide bump, some school gains Brian Graham, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said the district used the Smarter Balanced foundational measure (levels 2'4) to reset its baseline for the five‑year math goal. The 2023–24 baseline was 51.7 percent, the five‑year target is 76.7 percent by 2029, and the year‑one target would have been about 56.7 percent. The district reported a rise to 52.1 percent this year across grades 3–12, short of the year‑one target but an incremental gain.

Graham highlighted a notable improvement at seventh grade, where the share of students meeting foundational mathematics standards rose from about 48.6 percent to roughly 53 percent. Staff attributed school‑level gains to coordinated practices across teams: prioritizing grade‑level instruction, aligning teaching sequences, including depth‑of‑knowledge rigor, sustained goal setting, weekly intervention lessons, and intentional use of additional adult support for multilingual or special‑services students. "We bring together principals and teacher leaders'. We call them a guiding coalition'and we look at our practices," Graham said.

Gaps and disparity targets The board set an explicit goal to reduce achievement disparities by 10 percent each year. Staff reported mixed results. In mathematics, the district said it reduced the gap for American Indian/Alaska Native students by 23 percent and for Black/African American students by 19 percent, while the Hispanic/Latino gap increased by 3 percent and the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander gap increased by 50 percent.

ELA: district below its year‑one goal; some school standouts Gianotti and Graham said the district adjusted its ELA baseline to include foundational grades (levels 2'4), which raised the baseline to 60.9 percent. The five‑year target is 85 percent proficient by 2029; the 2024–25 result was 59.6 percent, below a year‑one target of about 65 percent.

At the elementary level, Salmon Creek Elementary's fifth graders stood out with an increase of roughly 17.8 percentage points year‑over‑year, staff reported. The principal there focused on protecting uninterrupted core ELA time, defining essential standards by grade, using interim assessments, daily focused writing, frequent feedback and classroom structures to promote academic talk.

For subgroup gaps in ELA, staff reported reductions in several cohorts: the male student gap was reduced by 22 percent, American Indian/Alaska Native by 53 percent, and Black/African American by 20 percent. Other subgroups showed smaller reductions or increases; staff said those areas remain priorities for school improvement planning.

Professional learning and operational steps District staff described a large professional learning day on Oct. 17 that offered roughly 90 three‑hour sessions across 15 locations, targeted at teachers and paraeducators, and tied to the district's strategic‑plan practices. Brian Graham said teacher leaders and district staff facilitated many sessions; the district will analyze exit tickets and facilitator feedback to inform future offerings.

Next steps and board reaction Presenters emphasized strengthening school‑level professional learning communities, expanding use of common assessments and aligning grading practices. Director Sproul and other board members praised the examples of school teams and asked staff to use those successes to guide next year's goal‑setting. There were no formal board actions on the dashboard or academic goals during the study session.

Ending The presentation concluded with staff saying they will return with additional assessment data and survey results later in the year. The study session then moved on to the district's student‑centered experience presentation.