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Pleasantville presents mixed ELA results; district to expand vocabulary and writing interventions
Summary
Supervisor Monica Little presented NJSLA, NJGPA and I-Ready ELA data showing low proficiency in several grades and district plans for professional development, word walls and a district writing cohort to boost outcomes.
At the Pleasantville Board of Education’s Feb. 18 meeting, Monica Little, supervisor of curriculum and instruction for grades K–12, presented the district’s most recent English language arts results and the district’s plan for targeted interventions.
Little told the board that on the 2023–24 NJSLA, proficiency rates for grades 3 through 5 were about 21%, 29% and 25%, respectively, with more than half of students in several elementary grades scoring below proficiency in reading-related subtests. She said vocabulary and written-expression areas showed the greatest need across elementary and middle grades and that over 60% of middle-grade students did not meet expectations in writing conventions.
Little said district I-Ready diagnostic data showed measurable gains in reading levels since the start of the year: she reported an increase in the number of students reading at or above grade level from 15 to 224 and declines in the counts of students two and three or more grade levels below. To address remaining gaps, Little described several planned steps: a three-part professional development series on differentiated instruction led by Dr. Kim Tucker of Stockton University; required word walls in elementary classrooms to reinforce academic vocabulary; strategies for academic vocabulary to be reviewed with middle- and high-school teachers; and a districtwide structured-writing cohort to create aligned writing curriculum and supports.
Superintendent Dr. Marilyn Martinez framed the efforts as part of a districtwide push to close achievement gaps and praised staff for the districtwide approach to literacy. The board later approved a curriculum item (agenda item 8.1) tied to instructional programs after discussion.
Little said roughly one-third of students were in the “approach” category—close to proficiency—and emphasized targeted interventions in vocabulary and literary analysis to move students upward.
No changes to state-mandated assessments were made at the meeting; district leaders said the measures described are instructional responses to recent diagnostic and state test data.
