Dysart board hears results from Spalding phonics pilot; staff intends to continue pilot at Countryside

District staff briefed the Dysart Unified School District governing board on results from a Spalding phonics pilot at Countryside Elementary, presenting DIBELS beginning/mid/end‑of‑year benchmark data for kindergarten and first grade and options for next steps.

Erin Morris, coordinator for research and achievement, said the district used DIBELS composites to compare Countryside (the Spalding pilot site) with Freedom Traditional (an established Spalding campus) and a group of non‑Spalding schools. “In looking at the end of year percent of students at or above benchmark, we can see that last year Countryside had 39% of their students at or above benchmark compared to this year where 53% of students are finishing at or above benchmark,” Morris said.

The presentation showed Freedom averaged roughly 90% of K–1 students finishing the year at or above benchmark, while the aggregated non‑Spalding schools…