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USD 262 reviews assessment results, highlights ACT gains and college scholarship outreach
Summary
District staff reviewed FastBridge screening data, Kansas state assessment changes and ACT results; presenters highlighted growth in early-grade reading and statistically significant jumps on ACT subtests and described a VUE scholarship initiative that connected juniors to potential awards.
District staff presented the district's assessment results and plans Tuesday night, detailing FastBridge screening outcomes, changes to Kansas state assessments and recent ACT results that show modest but statistically meaningful gains.
The presentation explained that FastBridge screeners measure which students are at risk and help teachers make daily instructional groupings. "The data from this assessment helps us to answer the question, are students developing the foundational skills needed to access grade level content?" the district presenter said. The district reported early-math FastBridge proficiency rising from 77% in the fall to 80% in spring and early-reading from 54% to 57%. Third-grade reading showed larger growth, from 63% in the fall to 73% by year-end.
Superintendent-level staff said Kansas state assessments are in a transition year: item types and performance-level descriptors changed this spring, so the state will convene panels over the summer and vote on cut scores in August. The district expects official spring scores around Sept. 1.
On college-readiness testing, district staff reviewed five years of ACT data for the junior cohort and all testers. The presentation noted a threshold for statistical significance on ACT scales is 0.3 points; the district reported statistically significant increases in several subject areas this year. For example, the junior cohort composite rose from an 18.0 to 18.8 and the districtwide average across all students was reported at 19.1, above the state average of 18.6. Reading, math and science showed year-over-year increases, while English remained an area for further investigation.
Staff also described a district initiative using VUE Scholarships that connected juniors to colleges' award rubrics. That program involved 218 juniors and produced approximately $413,000,000 in potential scholarship awards shown to students through the vendor's platform.
Board members asked for clarification on FastBridge percentages and scoring; staff said the FastBridge percentages report the share of students at or above the 40th percentile (the district's on-track threshold). Staff committed to return with detailed state-assessment results when KSDE releases finalized scores and cut scores.
District staff framed the takeaways as mixed but encouraging: early-reading and ACT subscore growth merit continued attention and targeted work, and state-level assessment changes mean the district will treat the current year as a baseline.
