Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Outcomes Goals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board identifies draft 2025–2030 goals: college/career readiness, 3rd‑grade ELA and 4th–5th grade numeracy
Summary
After months of planning with the Council of the Great City Schools, the Buffalo board agreed in principle to four draft student outcome goals for 2025–2030: college and career readiness for economically disadvantaged graduates, 3rd‑grade ELA proficiency, and 4th‑ and 5th‑grade math proficiency. Administration will return with baseline numbers and interim indicators.
The Buffalo City School District Board of Education and consultants from the Council of the Great City Schools spent a substantial portion of the Oct. 9 meeting refining draft student outcome goals for 2025–2030 and agreed in principle on four areas of focus.
Consultant Leslie summarized the board's listening work and recommended the district concentrate on a small number of measurable goals so the board can monitor progress. The draft goals the board endorsed to be finalized with interims and baselines are:
• College and career readiness: Increase the percentage of economically disadvantaged students who graduate in four years having earned at least one college credit, a technical endorsement or a CDOS‑endorsed diploma.
• Literacy (ELA): Increase the percentage of economically disadvantaged third graders who demonstrate proficiency on the New York State ELA assessment.
• Numeracy (math): Increase the percentage of economically disadvantaged fourth graders who demonstrate proficiency on the New York State math assessment.
• Numeracy (math): Increase the percentage of economically disadvantaged fifth graders who demonstrate proficiency on the New York State math assessment.
Board members debated whether a second literacy marker (for middle or high school) should be added to track students who are behind later in the pipeline. Board Member Paulette Woods urged a broader look at grades beyond third: ‘‘When you focus in on something, you water down something,’’ she said, arguing for guardrails and monitoring that catch older students who remain below grade level. Others, including consultants, said concentrating resources on a few high‑leverage grade levels makes implementation and measurement more manageable; Leslie said many districts begin with one to three goals and build monitoring calendars and interim indicators to show progress.
Administration will compute baselines (the consultant suggested August 2025 as a baseline point), propose three interim indicators for each goal, and return to the board with suggested monitoring calendars and recommended targets. The board discussed outreach to the community about the final goals and guardrails prior to formal adoption, tentatively scheduled for January.
Next steps: administration to return with baseline percentages and three interim indicators for each goal by late October; board to review, solicit community feedback, then aim for formal adoption in January.
