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Cloquet board approves one‑year data‑use agreement with Read Basics to deepen assessment analysis
Summary
The Cloquet Public School District board approved a one‑year data‑use agreement with Read Basics (Capti) that lets the company analyze district assessment data — preferably de‑identified — to correlate Read Basics screener scores with other measures and recommend instructional adjustments; the agreement will be renewed annually.
The Cloquet Public School District board voted on Nov. 10 to approve a one‑year data‑use agreement with Read Basics/Capti that will allow Capti researchers to analyze district assessment data and provide targeted instructional recommendations.
Nicole Bagger, who has worked with Capti and Cloquet staff, explained that Capti's Read Basics screener is the state‑selected tool for grades 4–12 and that Cloquet's long partnership with the company has produced useful analysis identifying which programs and interventions produced the strongest gains.
Bagger described the request as an expansion of last year’s work: Capti asks to access assessment sources such as FastBridge, DIBELS, one‑on‑one reading diagnostics, MCA scores and a phonemic awareness assessment so the company can correlate those measures with Read Basics results. She said the intent is to test whether Read Basics scores predict performance on other district measures and to identify efficient assessment and instruction strategies.
Dr. Opatz, a research scientist with Capti who joined by phone, said Capti prefers receiving de‑identified data and can de‑identify data on its side before storage. She said consent and opt‑out options would be part of the process: "If there is any student who does not want their data shared, we don't have to take anyone's data that doesn't want it shared," she said.
Board members asked about tribal data‑sovereignty concerns for students enrolled in federally recognized tribes. Dr. Opatz said she did not have legal guidance on tribal sovereignty issues and that the district would control what demographic fields it chose to share; the district may choose not to provide certain demographic fields.
The agreement is for the 2025–26 school year and will be reviewed annually. The motion to approve was made by Leanne Moose and seconded by a board member identified as Melissa; the item passed by voice vote. The board and staff framed the arrangement as mutually beneficial: Capti gets richer validation data while the district gains analysis support it cannot produce in‑house.
