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District reports improved literacy trends, outlines math concerns and curriculum review plans
Summary
White Bear Lake leaders said MCA reading and local FastBridge screeners show pockets of improvement, highlighted gains in early grades, and described a multi-year plan to review and adopt new math curriculum and instructional strategies.
Disa Fabec, the district assessment coordinator and educational technology coordinator, presented academic data for multiple assessments and described progress and next steps for curriculum and instructional supports.
The presentation emphasized a triangulated approach to assessment: statewide Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs), local FastBridge screeners (administered three times a year), and other measures including AP and ACT performance.
Fabec said MCA reading proficiency for the district is improving and that the district is “going against that statewide trend,” though she noted the exact, current MCA results are embargoed by the Minnesota Department of Education. She also described FastBridge early-reading and early-math composites showing substantial fall-to-spring gains in kindergarten and first grade, noting, for example, that kindergarten early-math benchmarks moved from about 72% in the fall to 77% in the spring for the cohort screened last year.
On mathematics, presenters told the board that results are mixed and that statewide changes to math standards and a long period without a new elementary math curriculum complicate interpretation. The district said it will pilot two elementary math curricula this year and expects to select and implement a new elementary math curriculum by next school year; middle- and high-school reviews are staged following that timeline.
The presentation also covered AP and ACT data: AP course participation and tests taken have increased, with 80% of students who took at least one AP test earning college credit on one or more AP exams last year; the presenters noted that students’ AP credits can reduce tuition on college entry (they provided University of Minnesota Twin Cities as an example). The district also reports increasing numbers of students taking AP exams.
Board members asked about how the district ensures consistency of interventions for students not meeting benchmarks. Fabec and district leaders described a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), site-based interventions (tier 2 and tier 3), use of Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) in several schools, and annual staffing allocations based on student need. The district also said it can correlate FastBridge and site-level data with state disciplinary incident reports (DIR) and that those analyses can be provided on request.
The district said it has held multi-day work sessions with principals and district leadership over the summer to examine hot spots, identify successful grade-level teams and instructional strategies (for example, math-talk practices), and set school goals aligned to FastBridge and MCA indicators.
Ending: District leaders said they will continue curriculum review, ongoing data analysis and targeted PD and expect to implement a chosen elementary math curriculum in the next school year while continuing supports in literacy and college-readiness pathways.
