Colonial SD principals outline K–3 progress, Future Ready Index results and school improvement plans

Dr. Phillips, staff member, told the Colonial School District Curriculum Committee on Feb. 10 that the district'level Future Ready Index is the state accountability measure tied to ESSA and that it will shape annual school improvement planning.

The district's K'3 principals described benchmark results, subgroup monitoring and the specific interventions they are using. "If we're talking about all students, let's really take a closer look at our subgroup data," Dr. Phillips said, emphasizing that much of the presentation focused on subgroup performance and targeted supports.

The principals said local benchmark systems (LinkIt and DIBELS) provide three in'year data points (beginning, middle and end) used to form small groups and interventions. Denise Marks, principal at ContraHawk Elementary, said benchmark Form A results for the current third'grade cohort show lower early scores but that Form B data indicate students are "on target" and help teachers set individual supports. "Form B'scores provide us with information that we need to target individual student needs and identify grade'level strengths and weaknesses," Marks said.

Principals described how item analysis from benchmark reports has revealed specific content weaknesses that guide instruction. One principal said fractions had not yet been covered in the math sequence and that explained a midyear dip compared with prior-year end'of'year expectations; they are using item'level reports to focus math instruction on those foundational skills.

Special education and English language learner (ELL) supports were a recurring topic. A principal explained the PASA alternate assessment for students with IEPs, noting it is administered one'on'one and videotaped for scoring. ELL leaders said the district's population of students who speak a language other than English at home has increased and that kindergartners across buildings vary in levels; WIDA screening and follow'up determines who receives services. "The ELL teachers are working with the students to do the WIDA assessment, and they look at all of these categories," one presenter said.

School improvement plans (SIPs) are described as living documents that building SIT teams revise throughout the year. Principals listed concrete supports tied to SIP goals: skill'based reading groups informed by DIBELS and other screeners, the adoption of programs such as Spire for targeted readers, use of Delta Math and DreamBox in math, and integration of claim-evidence-reasoning in science instruction. They also described data'warehouse tools (MClass, LinkIt) that allow teachers to run fingertip reports and form targeted small groups.

Principals highlighted nonacademic initiatives that they called points of pride: Anti'Defamation League No Place for Hate certifications, the Great Kindness Challenge, bilingual office tools and translated family materials, librarian bilingual collections and positive behavior supports (PBIS) systems. Several principals said the district emphasizes the "whole child" and social'emotional growth alongside academic growth.

Committee members asked about combining K'3 cohort reports; presenters said LinkIt and district navigator reports permit building and cohort diagnostics and that principals run subgroup diagnostics to support instruction. Presenters also noted that some state subgroup reporting requires a minimum cohort size of 20 students, which can limit publicly reported subgroup detail for smaller schools.

The committee's discussion closed with an invitation to board members to visit K'5 buildings to observe interventions and small'group instruction.

The presentation included multiple data references and program names but no formal committee vote; principals said some next steps are continued monitoring, small'group instruction refinement and follow'up on new math and reading resources.