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Board hears district assessment and intervention update; elementary and middle school proficiency mostly in line with state
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Osenbach and building principals reviewed 2024–25 district assessment results and ongoing interventions (ECRI, iReady, Acadience); the high school reported declines in some course failures and new data-team meetings and refinements to MTSS; CTE targets were set for industry credential pass rates.
Dr. Osenbach reviewed Jersey Shore Area SD’s state assessment data and related intervention plans at the Sept. 8 board meeting.
Elementary schools: district figures presented for spring 2024 state testing showed third-grade English/language arts proficiency (proficient or advanced) at 46 percent, fourth grade at 49 percent and fifth grade at 51 percent. Dr. Osenbach said district rates “are pretty much in line” with statewide averages in most tested areas. The district uses Acadience as a universal screener and i-Ready diagnostics three times per year; intervention tools named in the presentation include ECRI routines, Read Naturally and Phonics for Reading.
Middle school: the board saw grade-level proficiency snapshots and identified areas of strength and growth. The presentation showed advanced/proficient shares of 52 percent in grade 6, 51 percent in grade 7 and 53 percent in grade 8 (PSSA combined ELA/maths indicators were shown in the slide deck). The administration said it is using cross-grade teacher conversations and professional development to scale practices that are working in one grade to others.
High school: administrators reported improved course failure metrics and a reduction in freshman retention compared with prior years; the presentation said semester-1 course failures in the target band (grades 60–69) fell from earlier multi-year levels to a much smaller number last year. The high school described expanded use of tiered supports (MTSS, structured “shore” time, academic enrichment and after-school remediation), a planned keystone remediation course and data-team meetings modeled on elementary practices.
Career and Technical Education (CTE): CTE enrollment among eligible students rose in the presentation from roughly 48 percent (2023–24) to about 60 percent (2025–26). Industry certification rates cited in the slides increased from about 71 percent to roughly 86 percent; the presenters noted the district’s NOCTI/industry certification proficiency was slightly below a recent statewide figure (the state figure cited for 2024–25 was 86 percent proficient/advanced). The board was given three CTE goals: raise the NIMS competency pass rate to 90 percent by June 2, 2026; increase the percent of students earning certifications to 100 percent by that date; and complete and present 100 percent of written CTE curriculum by the end of the school year.
Instructional practice: the presentation outlined ongoing instructional strategies across grades: ECRI routines and tiered reading interventions in K–3, i-Ready MyPath lessons and small-group instruction, math instruction using concrete–representational–abstract (CRA) strategies and pilots of i-Ready classroom math in K–5. District staff said purchases of supplemental intervention materials have used a team-based decision process (building budgets, district technology budget and administrative review), and that some previously piloted programs (for example, Phonics for Reading) have been expanded based on positive results.
Board members asked for additional state-comparison data for some screens and the administration said it would provide state comparison tables requested during the meeting. No board votes were taken on curriculum or supplemental-material purchases during the Sept. 8 meeting.
Quincy Battaglia and building principals contributed details about middle- and high-school scheduling changes intended to increase instructional time and better align eighth-grade schedules with the transition to high school.
