D11 presents end-of-year STAR and 5Essentials results; district sees pockets of improvement and lingering math gaps

Superintendent Gong and district staff reviewed end-of-year benchmarking and climate data for Colorado Springs School District No. 11, telling the board on Monday that districtwide STAR results and the University of Chicago 5Essentials climate survey show both progress and continuing challenges.

District staff said 46% of students tested at grade level in English language arts (ELA) and 31% at grade level in math on spring STAR benchmarks. The district reported an ELA median growth percentile of 55 and said gap-closing growth met a 54 threshold in ELA but fell short in math (reported at 49). "The good news is we are on our way from good to great," Superintendent Gong said as staff summarized the results.

The presentation combined two lenses: the 5Essentials tool, which measures school climate and conditions, and STAR, a three-times‑a‑year benchmark used by the district to monitor likely outcomes on state tests (CMAS) and PSAT/SAT. Dr. Kolicky, who presented the combined analysis, said the district has a districtwide green rating in the 5Essentials factor "ambitious instruction," and that schools showing green on multiple 5Essentials elements strongly correlate with stronger STAR performance. "For the first time in our use of this tool, districtwide, we have a green for the entire district, which is ambitious instruction," Dr. Kolicky said.

Staff highlighted where gains and gaps appeared by level: elementary teachers reported improved student engagement and principal trust; middle school students reported increased academic personalism and classroom discourse while some teacher-to-teacher trust measures dipped; high school students reported improved feelings of safety and parent involvement but staff trust measures remained weaker. Board members asked whether measures such as cell‑phone policies could explain middle‑school discourse gains; presenters said those hypotheses will be investigated, but the current data do not establish causation.

District staff flagged a larger than usual "summer slide" this cycle, noting that most of the year‑to‑year loss appears to open in grades 4–8 (with grades 6–8 showing the largest declines). Staff described efforts to analyze balanced student panels (students who took all nine testing windows and remained in one school) to reduce mobility effects on the results and better isolate school-level progress.

Math performance drew sustained attention. Presenters said STAR and other tools show math trailing ELA by roughly 10–12 percentage points districtwide, and staff proposed stronger, widely implemented professional development and coaching for math across grade bands. The district emphasized fidelity of implementation for Eureka Math, its K–8 curriculum: several board members said curriculum change should not be the first option if districts do not implement an adopted curriculum with fidelity. "If we don't implement with fidelity, it is not the curriculum," one board member said during the discussion.

Staff also described advances in the district's assessment and coaching pipeline: item‑level analysis in STAR and standards‑aligned item analysis from curriculum tools (Eureka, and a piloted Horizon/PowerSchool integration) allow teachers and instructional leadership teams to target specific standards. Data coaches and academics staff outlined a model of school‑embedded support — PLCs, instructional coaching, and immediate classroom follow-up — intended to move schools from diagnostic results to classroom action.

Presenters identified schools with notable progress and those on the state accountability watch list; district staff said some traditionally low‑performing schools have improved and are now supporting turnaround strategies at other schools. The presentation named Adams, Mitchell and Galileo among campuses receiving targeted supports; staff described Adams as showing a notable gain in percent passing and turnaround momentum.

District staff framed the data as a "conversation starter" rather than a single source for decisions and said they will deliver more granular reports (including parent 5Essentials results and cleaned balanced panels) as teams continue end‑of‑year planning. The presentation closed with district staff recommending continued emphasis on instructional coaching, implementation fidelity for curriculum and assessment tools, and targeted summer learning and mobility supports to address the summer slide.

Board members did not take a formal vote on policy changes during the session; staff said they will return with additional school‑level and CMAS alignment detail once state results are finalized later in the summer.