Mineola presents early‑grade data showing literacy gains, expands dual‑language supports and interventions

Mineola Union Free School District principals presented data at the board meeting showing measurable gains in early‑grade literacy and a set of program changes designed to accelerate learning for multilingual and special‑education students.

The presentation, delivered by Hampton Street principal Miss Shaw and Meadow Drive principal Miss Fahey during the superintendent’s reports, combined assessment results, classroom interventions and new practices the district said are helping young learners. "We pack our learners' metaphorical backpacks for that lifelong journey," Miss Shaw said, summarizing the district’s approach to early education and student agency.

Why it matters: district leaders said the new approach shifts assessment and instruction toward the science of reading and gives teachers real‑time tools to diagnose and intervene. Presenters said these changes aim to reduce long‑term remediation needs and support biliteracy in Mineola’s growing multilingual population.

Key findings and changes - Cohort and demographics: presenters said their preK–2 cohort included 663 learners, of whom 18% had IEPs, 16% were English language learners, 4% were new to the district (some new to the country) and 2% had 504 plans. Those figures came from the principals’ demographic slide. - Literacy measures and growth: the principals described moving from leveled readers and Fountas & Pinnell benchmarking to Foundations probes, DIBELS/MCAS for Spanish, Amplify tools and EasyCBM. They reported substantial growth from fall to spring and said "by the end of second grade, we have the most growth with 66.5% of our learners performing at or above grade level" on the combined measures presented. - Dual‑language outcomes: the presentation said dual‑language students were meeting growth targets; presenters reported 63% of dual‑language students meeting NWEA growth targets compared with 56% of non‑dual peers and noted that by the end of second grade dual‑language learners were surpassing non‑dual learners on growth measures. - Interventions and programs: staff described tiered supports, including universal Tier‑1 instruction, Tier‑2 targeted AIS push‑in services and Tier‑3 intensive intervention (Learning Lab eight‑week cycles). The SPIRE program and SoundSensible were cited as targeted reading interventions for students with identified decoding needs; presenters said students who received SPIRE showed a steady upward trend on benchmarks. - Assessment systems and tools: presenters said EasyCBM provides national percentile norms and progress‑monitoring tools that let teachers track interventions every two weeks; the district is piloting LitLab AI to generate passages aligned to Foundations and to support differentiated instruction. - Special‑education reconfiguration: the district announced a reorganization of RISE and self‑contained sections to create an intermediate level of support at Meadow and Hampton. "So now there's a self contained in both buildings, 1 fewer RISE section," a presenter said, adding the change is intended to raise expectations and better match services to student needs.

Voices from the board and community Board members praised the data and the teacher engagement. One trustee said the dual‑language results were "extraordinary," and several trustees thanked teachers in the room for implementing the new materials and practices.

What happens next District staff said they will continue monitoring growth using EasyCBM and Amplify, refine badge alignment across Spanish and English curricula and follow up with teachers in goal meetings to address flagged badges and skills. The presentation concluded with teacher recognitions and a pledge to return with updated results.

Sources: presentation and Q&A during the Mineola Board of Education meeting, as presented by Miss Fahey (principal, Meadow Drive) and Miss Shaw (principal, Hampton Street).