District curriculum and assessment staff presented the Windham Southeast Unified Union School District #9's Local Common Assessment Toolkit and explained how a multilayered systems of support (MLSS) will guide screening, diagnostic and intervention steps across schools.

At the meeting on Nov. 18, Brynn, a curriculum lead, framed the toolkit as an adaptable "multilayered systems of support" that keeps grade-level universal instruction in place while adding and removing supplemental layers as needed. "We're thinking more about our assessment and our intervention systems as layers that we can layer on and then also layer off as needed," Brynn said.

The presentation described a three-part assessment workflow: universal screening to identify students of concern, diagnostic assessments to pinpoint specific needs, and formative/summative classroom checks to monitor progress. Stacy, a member of the assessment team, gave classroom examples and said the toolkit collects screening, diagnostic and formative tools and embeds guidance for next steps.

High-school staff outlined a pilot to follow a STAR universal screen with targeted follow-up for students scoring in the lowest band. "Any student who scores in the level 1...is going to be taking an oral reading fluency test," a high-school representative said, describing a flow that moves to a spelling screener and then a phonics screener when scores indicate deeper decoding needs. The goal is to drill down to the exact deficit and then provide a research-based intervention.

Presenters identified two candidate structured-literacy programs under active review (SIPs and Just Words), both noted as appearing on a state-vetted list. A committee will recommend a program at the district's December meeting and train staff to deliver interventions in small groups (about 10 or fewer students) during a planned pilot next semester.

Board members asked how pull-out interventions would coexist with push-in inclusive models. Presenters said the district will use a mix: push-in strategies for many students but pull-out, small-group instruction when foundational decoding or fluency skills prevent access to grade-level content. The team also described universal staff training on literacy practices to strengthen the whole-school layer of support.

The presentation included a facilitated workshop for board members to review toolkit sections and provide feedback; staff said written comments collected during the session will be addressed and posted to the district site.

Next steps: the district will finalize program selection in December, schedule staff training, pilot the intervention second semester, and report results to the board as the pilot proceeds.