Principals tell Bullhead City School Board student teaming, classroom coaching producing gains; board to weigh continued external coaching funding

Principals at four district schools reported to the Bullhead City School Board on March 20 that the districtwide rollout of Instructional Empowerment (IE or MOI) has increased student collaboration, introduced common lesson success criteria and produced measurable mid‑year gains on some benchmark tests.

At a workshop meeting, Principal Julie Vela summarized classroom-level evidence: videos, “look and learn” visits, and repeated “rigor walks” have shifted teacher practice and student behavior toward student-led teaming and “evidence of learning,” she said. “So now it’s all about evidence,” Vela said, describing how teachers moved from checking whether routines were in place to requiring students to show evidence that they met success criteria.

The principals showed assessment data they said reflected those changes. Vela presented end-of-standard results she attributed to her sixth-grade ELA and math benchmark cycles, reporting examples such as reading-for-information proficiency moving from 41.3% to 67.2% across interim tests and math number-sense results improving from 20.8% to 44.5% on the tests she shared. She said Galileo year-over-year comparisons also show a reduction in the percentage of minimally proficient students in some grades. "We're reducing the amount of minimally proficient kids substantially," she said.

Other principals gave classroom examples and local implementation detail. Chris Roy, principal at Sunrise Elementary, said kindergarten through fourth-grade classrooms show broader use of teaming structures and that 82% of that school's teachers were reporting implementation at the MOI 1.0.1 level through look-and-learn observations. "The brains that do the work do the learning," Roy said, describing a push to move teacher talk into student talk with role cards and readiness checks.

Diamondback Principal Stephanie McCorkle and Desert Valley Principal Cassandra Wilson each reported upward movement on the district's instructional maturity measures (SIM/SIM chart) and on site-specific rigor appraisal scores. McCorkle said kindergarten through second-grade DIBELS scores have improved at her site; Wilson highlighted a districtwide rise on the "conditions for learning" and "standards-based evidence" categories on recent rigor appraisals, noting her school’s overall appraisal score moved to 7.1.

Presenters and board members described the implementation cycle: teachers watch Empowerment Central video courses, instructional coaches and site leaders triangulate observations with look-and-learn data, and teams set 45-day goals and two-week “sprint” action steps. Several principals noted dips in implementation measures during staff transitions and December testing windows but said the metrics rebounded after coaching and recalibration.

Board members and district leaders raised cost and sustainability questions. Superintendent Dr. Anita Stewart (title as provided in meeting materials) told the board she is recommending that a portion of an available state Instructional Improvement fund be used to cover part of the district’s contract with Instructional Empowerment and to seed a locally hired model-of-instruction coach who would be trained to sustain the work after the external contract ends. Stewart told the board the district has roughly $2.78 million in combined reserves as of the latest calculations and that a newly posted state correction added about $531,000 back into this year’s budget, easing near-term pressure.

Principals and some board members urged patience and continuity. Desert Valley Principal Cassandra Wilson described stable teacher collaboration as a key factor in sustaining progress. "When kids are in charge of their learning, they're more likely to reach goals," Wilson said, describing student goal-setting and progress tracking used in third and fourth grades.

The board did not take a final vote on a renewed contract with Instructional Empowerment at the March 20 meeting. Superintendent Stewart told the board she will bring a detailed contract proposal and a refined cost-sharing plan (including a proposal to use a mix of Instructional Improvement funds, classroom site funds and M&O dollars) to an upcoming meeting for formal action.

What it means for families: Principals said students are practicing interactive academic routines—role cards, accountability structures and small-group interventions—designed to increase depth of understanding and to reduce the number of minimally proficient students over time. The district will present a contract-level budget and a sustainability plan to the board before committing to multiyear spending beyond grants and state‑directed Instructional Improvement funds.

Evidence spans from the meeting transcript include principal presentations, school-level data slides, and follow-up questions from board members. The board asked that the district present the contract terms and specific cost options in April so members can vote on how to fund continuing external coaching and the proposed district coach in the 2025–26 budget cycle.