Danville schools report drop in chronic absenteeism, referrals after semester interventions

Miss McCraw, director of assessment and state reporting for Danville Public Schools, told the school board on Jan. 23 that the district’s semester data show declines in chronic absenteeism and disciplinary referrals and pointed to new monitoring tools and targeted interventions as key drivers.

"Our target is 11%," Miss McCraw said of the district chronic‑absenteeism goal, describing updates to the district’s DPSin3D data dashboard and regular reporting cadence that allows school and division leaders to track attendance by school and by student. She told the board the district has recorded a 37% reduction in elementary chronic absenteeism and a 27% reduction at both the middle and high school levels compared with the prior December reporting period.

The presentation covered multiple assessment platforms. Miss McCraw described the state’s VALS screening (the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening) for pre‑K through grade 3, monthly Early Literacy Foundation checks in kindergarten and I‑Ready diagnostic assessments for grades 3–8. She said the district uses I‑Ready for diagnostic baselines and to measure typical and "stretch" growth throughout the year.

Miss McCraw also summarized benchmark results across reading, math and science, noting areas where students perform well and standards that require more focus. She explained tiering procedures used to identify students in need of support: Tier 1 for on/above grade level, Tier 2 for students needing additional support, and Tier 3 for students requiring intensive intervention. The district retiers students each quarter and updates student lists after each benchmark window.

Discipline data featured sharp declines in referrals. "We had approximately 7,374 recorded referrals in January of 2024. But in 2025, we have 3,353," Miss McCraw said, characterizing that as a 55% decrease in overall referrals for semester comparisons. She reported decreases in in‑school suspension incidents and out‑of‑school suspensions and fewer incidents across behavioral categories such as relationship behaviors and written threats.

Board members asked for clarification about the timing of re‑tiering and whether benchmarks include combined reading and writing measures for high‑school end‑of‑course assessments; Miss McCraw said benchmarks include separate reading and writing sections that are combined for state reporting and reiterated that tier reviews occur at the end of each quarter and after major benchmark windows.

Miss McCraw laid out the district’s response strategies: daily intervention blocks for grades 3–8, after‑school tutoring and Saturday school, targeted behavior interventions, and school‑level progress monitoring and academic audits to guide supports and resource allocation. She said some supports for science include use of STEMscopes and Progress Learning and that a recent science study is under review for further improvement planning.

The board heard the data as part of the regular semester update; no formal action was required on the presentation. The board scheduled continued review through benchmark 3 and an SOL simulation in March.