Washington Elementary reports midyear gains in reading and math; officials outline next steps

Washington Elementary School District (4260) Governing Board President Kyle Clayton on Jan. 23 received midyear English language arts and math results showing district leaders described as clear early gains in reading and emerging progress in math.

Carrie Jevonin, the district—s director of assessment, told the board the district—s midyear measures show increases in early reading and that growth measures indicate many students are on a path toward end-of-year targets. "Our overall academic goal is that overall, there should be a 3% increase in ELA and math proficiency data, grade to grade," Jevonin said.

JeVonin reported that, at midyear, 39.5% of the district—s kindergarten-through-third-grade beginner readers scored at proficiency on the STAR CBM, a 13-percentage-point increase from the fall; 32.3% of that group had moved out of intervention at midyear. She said 45% of kindergarten through second-grade students were at or above the early literacy benchmark and that 42% of students in grades 3 through 8 were at or above the ELA benchmark at midyear.

On math, Jevonin said 22% of Washington students across K-8 were categorized as early on, mid or above grade level on the I-Ready diagnostic at midyear. She highlighted progress toward growth targets: for example, 54% of kindergarteners had met half of their stretch-growth goal, and 34% of third-graders were on track to meet a year-plus stretch-growth target at midyear, compared with 20% at the same point last year.

Why it matters: District leaders said steady growth at early grades and improvements in growth measures can translate to higher proficiency over multiple years. Jevonin noted district goals tied to state assessments, including an ELA target tied to the AASA and a math target; the district has set a working board-level goal of a 3% proficiency increase districtwide.

Next steps and district direction: Paula McWhorter, who led a principals' professional development session on the data, told the board principals identified common next steps: focused small-group intervention planning based on data; observation of Tier 1 (whole-group) instruction to ensure appropriate rigor; and direct observation and feedback on intervention lessons. "The most important instruction we do is in small groups," McWhorter said, describing the prioritized support.

Board discussion and implementation: Board members asked for details about how exemplar practices would be replicated. Jevonin and other administrators said the district is identifying teachers with strong student growth percentiles (SGPs), cataloging exemplar practices and arranging peer visits and walk-throughs so principals and teachers can observe those practices. Jevonin said STAR (Renaissance) testing has been used since 2021 and that I-Ready provides grade-level planning reports and skill-gap reports for teacher planning. Jevonin also said the district meets regularly with I-Ready consultants and that consultants provide modeling, co-teaching and planning support in schools.

Context and limitations: District staff emphasized that midyear benchmarks are lower than end-of-year targets and that the bar for proficiency rises as the school year continues. Jevonin cautioned that progress toward stretch-growth targets is promising but not equivalent to final proficiency: sustained improvement year over year is required to close longstanding gaps.

Less-critical details: The board approved routine items at the start of the meeting (agenda, minutes and a consent agenda) and later adjourned. The meeting included a land acknowledgment and brief district updates, including appreciation for a recent district spelling bee.

Ending: District officials said they will continue school-level data meetings, principal-led walk-throughs and district supports with the aim of converting midyear growth into higher end-of-year proficiency rates.