Silver Creek leaders present school improvement plans and test-data progress

Silver Creek School Corporation administrators and building principals on Sept. 9 reviewed 2024–25 assessment results, attendance rates and proposed school-improvement actions and said they will seek formal approval of building plans at the next board meeting.

The presentation, given by district administrators identified in the meeting as Doctor Swearns and Doctor Waters and by principals for the primary, elementary, middle and high schools, summarized growth on reading screeners and state assessments, described new curricular and intervention strategies, and outlined an expanded schedule for quarterly data reviews and supports for teachers.

District leaders said the primary school posted a “huge increase” in DIBELS 8 screening scores, which focus on early reading skills. The presentation showed that in 2024 the primary building had 80.3% of students with 94% or higher attendance; the district noted the state expectation of at least 94% attendance per student and said improving attendance remains a priority. The board was shown cohort-level iLearn results; one example presented was third-grade ELA passage rates of 41.7% in 2024 and 43.7% in 2025 for that cohort. On the SAT, the district reported ELA pass rates rising from 52% in 2024 to 67% in 2025, compared with a state average listed as 53%.

Presenters said the district is implementing a new K–12 math curriculum and that some observed “implementation dip” in ELA outcomes is consistent with rolling out a new reading program last year. The elementary principal said the school shifted part of its improvement plan to emphasize iRead and early identification of students at risk of failing the third-grade iRead; staff used second-grade screening data to start interventions in week two of the current school year and offered targeted summer school for students identified as at-risk.

Planned and ongoing strategies listed in the presentation include a districtwide quarterly data review cycle (DIBELS, ILEARN checkpoints, common formative assessments, discipline and attendance), a new teacher mentor program for educators with 0–5 years’ experience, expanded professional development (including waiver days), implementation of the Writing Revolution across grades, and continued work toward STEM certification via a multi-year guiding coalition.

Principals described building-level interventions: at the primary school, structured literacy blocks, a “walk to intervention” model and parent incentives tied to attendance; at the elementary school, targeted iRead interventions and summer-school supports; at the middle school, counselor-led classroom supports and plans to grow the share of students meeting the 94% attendance expectation from roughly 70% toward 80% over several years; at the high school, ongoing attendance tracking, weekly attendance-team meetings, home checks and recognition incentives. The high school also reported improved AP participation and pass rates (presentation cited growth from 124 AP exams with 30% scoring 3+ in an earlier year to 321 exams with 56% scoring 3+ more recently).

Board members praised the work and thanked teachers and administrators. Doctor Swearns said building-level school improvement plans will be placed on the district website and returned to the board for approval at the next meeting.

The presentation included references to several assessment systems (DIBELS 8, iLearn, iRead, SAT, AP) and to a new math resource implementation; district leaders said additional grant-seeking will align to the district strategic plan.