St. Helens superintendent outlines K'3 literacy push and attendance equity work

Jeff Burns, the district's superintendent for teaching and learning, presented the district's integrated programs annual report and next steps to the board, emphasizing literacy instruction, interventions and equity work.

Burns said the district has trained every teacher in the science of reading and is implementing systematic phonics and phonemic-awareness instruction across K'3 to build foundational skills. "Every teacher in the district has been trained in the science of reading," he said, and the district's strategic goal is to increase third-grade language arts outcomes by about 2 percentage points each year.

Burns reported performance metrics and challenges: the four-year graduation rate for 2023'4 is roughly 79 percent and third-grade ELA proficiency is about 29 percent, both below state averages. He described interventions such as walk-to-intervention time in elementary grades, modified high-school schedules with built-in intervention blocks, literacy coaching planned for 2025'6 and alignment of bond-phase interventions to support instruction.

Burns also discussed attendance and discipline as equity issues that the district will monitor using an equity lens and data review cycles. He emphasized moving toward restorative practices where feasible and increasing professional learning time and structured collaboration among staff to better support students.

Next steps include posting the SIA/ODE-required annual integrated program report and sharing state assessment and district report card results when available in 2025. Burns said the district will continue to provide regular updates throughout the year on progress toward longitudinal performance growth targets and benchmarks.