Grand Forks board hears update on literacy, math goals; administration flags gaps for some cohorts and subgroups

Grand Forks School Board President Burger heard an update April 14 from Superintendent Dr. Brenner and Chief Academic Officer Amy Barch on the district's "Be Legendary" academic goals, which aim to raise literacy and math proficiency by 2028.

The presentation laid out districtwide outcome goals, progress-monitoring results from Renaissance STAR and other screeners, subgroup breakdowns and the instructional inputs the administration is using or proposing to reach targets. Dr. Brenner said the district's two headline targets are increasing English language arts proficiency and mathematics proficiency across K'12, with interim cohort and grade-level benchmarks used as progress checks.

Why it matters: the board adopted the goals recommended by district administration; the presentation identified specific cohorts and subgroups that are not on track, and recommended programmatic and staffing options that would require ongoing budget and training commitments. The status of multilingual (ML) learners and students with special education needs was raised repeatedly as an area requiring additional time and targeted supports.

The district reported mixed results by grade and subgroup. Highlights and shortfalls included:

- Early literacy (K'1): STAR early literacy winter checks showed K'1 students at 65% at-or-above benchmark for the winter window, with a spring STAR window scheduled to start in early to mid-May. Dr. Brenner noted the district is "not even to our spring assessment yet" and that…