Board approves progress report for middle‑years literacy but says district fell short of target
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Summary
The governing board approved the progress monitoring report for Board Goal 4 (middle‑years literacy) after staff presented a 30% proficiency rate against a 35% target. Board members and staff discussed teacher turnover, limited intervention time at middle school and plans to scale interventions and coaching.
The Phoenix Elementary District Governing Board on June 24 reviewed progress on Board Goal 4, the district’s middle‑years literacy target, and voted to accept the monitoring report after staff said the district did not meet the one‑year goal.
Superintendent Doctor Gonzales and Doctor Aileshire told the board the district’s target for the year was 35% proficiency; staff reported a 30% result. “We’re realizing more and more…how important that foundation is,” Gonzales said, describing reading across the curriculum and writing instruction as priorities.
Aileshire and other C&I staff cited multiple causes of the shortfall: loss of teachers midyear at several campuses, the difficulty of scheduling consistent intervention blocks for middle school teachers who have multiple class periods, and limited opportunities for students to read informational text. Aileshire described pilots of two middle‑school intervention programs (95% and Rewards) that were implemented midyear and produced promising results in campuses that used them with fidelity. The district plans to expand that work next year and to add middle‑school‑experienced instructional coaches.
Board members expressed concern about the nearly equal number of schools that increased and decreased in outcomes and asked for further detail on enrollment and staffing. One board member asked specifically whether schools that declined had lost teachers; staff said two of the three schools with sharp declines lost their eighth‑grade teacher during the year.
When the board voted to accept the progress monitoring report for Goal 4, roll call recorded one No: Doctor Alicia Bink/Vink voted No; Erica Valle and President Carmen Trujillo voted Yes. The motion therefore passed.
District staff said plans to address the gap include scaling middle‑school intervention programs next year (options of Rewards or 95%), reconfiguring grade bands so more teachers can collaborate at the same grade level, strengthening coaching and building a three‑year induction initiative (“Build”) for early‑career teachers to improve retention and reduce midyear disruption.
Board members requested continued monitoring of the planned expansions and school‑level follow‑ups.
