Easton Area SD presents midyear assessment review; Paxinosa kindergarten shows notable reading gains

Easton Area School District administrators presented midyear screening and growth results at a special board meeting, reporting mixed districtwide progress in early reading and math while highlighting large kindergarten gains at Paxinosa Elementary after a targeted ECRI reading initiative.

At the meeting district leaders reviewed Acadience (DIBELS) screening for K–2, STAR benchmarks for grades 3–8 (reading) and grades 1–8 (math), and IXL diagnostic/growth measures used to set individual skill plans. Administrators said the district is working toward multi‑year goals set in the comprehensive plan and described near‑term steps — schedule changes, tighter curriculum fidelity and ongoing coaching — intended to increase students meeting benchmarks by year end.

Administrators said district goals include increasing the percentage of grade‑3 students reading on or above grade level by 2027, and reaching an 80 percent ELA and math proficiency rate K–8 by 2027; this school year the stated interim targets were 70 percent of K–3 reading on grade level and 65 percent proficiency in ELA/math for K–8. Dr. Draper said the results so far are "pretty pleasing," while noting there is more work to do to reach end‑of‑year targets.

Key midyear points presented - Acadience (K–2): Kindergarten showed improvement from fall to midyear; presenters reported about 66 percent of kindergarten students on track for meeting future benchmark goals and roughly 63 percent making typical or above‑typical progress on Acadience pathways. First grade was described as a challenging midyear transition (to oral reading fluency and comprehension), with roughly half of first graders on track; second grade showed stronger results, with about 71 percent on track and 63 percent making typical or better progress. - STAR (grades 1–8 math; 3–8 reading): District presenters said they use STAR both to identify students for intervention and to measure growth. STAR growth is reported on the Student Growth Percentile (SGP) scale; the district uses 35 SGP as a typical growth threshold and has a stretch target of 70 percent of students meeting growth targets in each grade/subject. Presenters reported growth for several grades but said some grade bands still need additional progress to meet the district growth target. - IXL diagnostics: IXL was billed as the district's adaptive diagnostic and individualized practice tool; teachers set student growth plans based on scale points (50 points by midyear, 100 by year end). Buildings reported variable progress by grade, with many lower and middle grades meeting or approaching midyear goals.

Paxinosa kindergarten and the ECRI pilot District staff invited a partnership presentation from PATIN (the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network) and Paxinosa Elementary School to showcase an evidence‑based Enhanced Core Reading Instruction (ECRI) pilot in kindergarten. Andrea Bell, identified in the meeting as an educational consultant with PATIN, described SPELL grant objectives and said the program requires "enhanced core reading instruction" routines aligned to the adopted core curriculum.

Principal Mr. Couples and PATIN consultants told the board the Paxinosa kindergarten team began implementing ECRI routines in October after training. Mr. Couples said the kindergarten teachers "have just been phenomenal" and presented midyear Acadience gains: across several Acadience measures (first sound fluency, phoneme segmentation, nonsense word fluency and composite), kindergarten performance rose compared with last year’s cohort — for example, phoneme segmentation was reported to increase roughly 20 percentage points compared with the prior year at midyear. Bell emphasized that the teachers "have made a difference in a very short amount of time."

What administrators plan next District leaders said they will emphasize three categories of follow‑up: (1) preserve and protect uninterrupted instructional time by adjusting master schedules to increase dedicated ELA and math blocks; (2) improve curriculum fidelity by encouraging consistent adoption of the board‑approved core materials and creating clearer scope/sequence guides so teachers know which units to teach and when; and (3) expand job‑embedded professional development and coaching so teachers get follow‑up support after initial training rather than a single, stand‑alone workshop. Administrators also said they will provide school‑ and grade‑level breakdowns of the midyear data to board members on request.

Board members pressed for school‑level breakdowns and historical comparisons. One board member asked for a column showing last year’s figures at the end‑of‑year review; the presenters agreed to provide additional comparative tables when the district reports end‑of‑year results.

The district said it will return to the board with end‑of‑year data and that, in the meantime, building teams will continue data meetings, walk‑throughs and targeted interventions to address students not yet meeting midyear expectations.