Cherry Creek presents midyear literacy update with specific targets, expanded coaching and targeted interventions

Cherry Creek School District officials presented a midyear update of the district's literacy plan at the Board of Education meeting on Jan. 13, outlining numerical targets for reducing individualized "read plans," specific proficiency goals at critical grades and a set of supports—data‑literacy coaching, targeted interventions and expanded instructional coaching—to help meet the district's 2030 literacy goal.

The plan sets a near‑term goal that each school reduce the number of students on read plans by 17 percent by February (a change the district says is the proportion needed to stay on the trajectory toward the 2030 proficiency goal). District leaders also identified grade‑level proficiency targets they said will move the district toward the 2030 objective: second grade 60 percent proficiency (STAR early/STAR reading benchmark) by 2025; fourth grade rise from 45.4 to 56 percent on CMAS; eighth grade rise from 51.4 to 61 percent on CMAS; and tenth grade increase from 75 to 80 percent on the PSAT.

"That 17% comes when you look at the number we need to decrease them by in order to reach that 2030 goal that's been set by the district," said Toby Erhitola, executive director of elementary education. Erhitola and other presenters said the targets are intended to focus school teams on exiting students from read plans as well as creating them.

Why it matters: district officials said the work is concentrated where it can have the most effect—Title I schools and the grades where standards shift—because gains there affect downstream outcomes. The district tied the initiative to its broader strategic plan and described it as an effort to align instructional work across K–12 rather than introduce isolated initiatives.

What the district is doing - Data‑literacy supports: Presenters said data literacy at the building level is a priority. The literacy team and assessment staff plan to give principals and teachers clearer entry points into multiple data sources so teams can identify students who are near exit from read plans and accelerate interventions.

- Targeted interventions: The district described a curricular intervention called Just Words (identified as an element of the Wilson family of interventions) as a targeted Tier 2/3 option for students in fourth grade and above who retain foundational skill gaps. "Just Words is all direct teacher instruction," board member Director Allen asked for confirmation; presenters said small groups (typically no more than 15 students) are used for that instruction.

- Foundations and formative measures: District staff said they are using foundations unit assessments (end‑of‑unit checks aligned to instruction) to get more timely information than interim benchmarks alone. Those unit assessments are being tracked in principal and coach meetings to determine where professional learning or instructional shifts are needed.

- Professional learning communities and coaching: The presentation described a relaunch of professional learning community (PLC) work across the district, including a "15‑day challenge" for unit planning and a 50‑day implementation challenge at some schools. The district is now in its fourth year of elementary instructional coaches and third year of secondary instructional excellence coaches, the presenters said, and credited cross‑department collaboration for expanding coaching supports.

Questions from the board and next steps Board members asked about cross‑content alignment (bringing math, science and literacy work under the same PLC approaches), how students were selected for interviews the district plans to conduct to collect student voice, and whether parents would be informed when students participate in those interviews. Dr. Dominique Jones, executive director of performance improvement, said the district will notify parents and intends to add parent voice as a strategic action in follow‑up work. The district also said Norm (assessment staff) will provide a deeper, comprehensive data dive in a future meeting.

No formal action was required on the literacy plan itself; the presentation ended and the board's public comment and consent agenda proceeded. The board's next regular meeting was announced for Feb. 10, 2025 at Fox Ridge Middle School.

Ending District presenters said fall‑to‑winter STAR results and district foundations data show "numbers trending in the right direction," while emphasizing that the work will require continued principal and coach engagement, professional learning and targeted supports in Title I schools to meet the stated targets.