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Garden City schools report mixed FastBridge reading results; district plans curriculum review
Summary
District staff told the Board of Education that winter FastBridge screening shows some year-to-year gains in several grades but a continuing gap in first-grade reading fluency; officials described training, screening, and next steps including an ELA curriculum adoption aligned to the science of reading.
District curriculum staff delivered the Garden City Board of Education a winter FastBridge reading-screening update that showed mixed results across grade levels and described steps the district is taking to strengthen early reading instruction.
The presentation, given during the board's regular meeting, emphasized that some cohorts show measurable one-year gains while fall-to-winter comparisons sometimes drop because benchmarks become more demanding. Staff singled out first grade as the area with the largest gap compared with national averages and said that kindergarten and several other grades show progress tied to recent instruction changes.
Why it matters: FastBridge is used as an early screener to flag students who may need diagnostic testing or targeted intervention. District leaders said screening data are guiding teacher training and intervention placement and will inform the upcoming English language arts curriculum adoption.
The update noted programmatic changes made over the last two years: Heggerty for phonemic awareness and UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) for phonics were adopted districtwide. Staff reported LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training is required for K–3 teachers for state licensure renewal and that the district is building local LETRS facilitators to provide ongoing coaching. The district reported that…
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