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District officials describe data cycle, FastBridge screening and family reports
Summary
District teaching-and-learning staff described a multi-level data cycle using FastBridge screening, DIM and SWIM meetings, and family reports; leaders said the district aims for 80% of students at or above grade-level benchmarks and will make state comparisons available after this year.
Skye, the district’s literacy teaching and learning coordinator, outlined how Stillwater principals and teachers use a planned data cycle—inform, interpret, shape, drive—to guide instruction districtwide.
She described universal screening with FastBridge, progress monitoring and three levels of meetings: district intervention meetings (DIM) to decide tier‑3 services, school‑wide intervention meetings (SWIM) for tier‑2 planning, and Collaborative Action Teams (CAT) for classroom- and grade-level action. "We want 80% or more of students to be above that [grade‑level] line," Skye said when presenting the typical FastBridge chart used to classify risk levels.
Skye said administrators received summer training on accessing and interpreting the screening data and that Minnesota’s decision to approve two statewide screeners means state norms will be available after this year, improving district-to-state comparisons. She reported principals can drill from national to district to classroom to individual‑student reports and that the district runs DIM meetings five times per year to allocate interventions.
The district also described family reports: screening results will be sent home (the presentation cited October 11 as an expected mailing date), and district staff said they try to communicate with families who have students in some‑ or high‑risk categories before those families receive the written report so that the family receives an action plan alongside the results. District staff said translation and online availability of family reports are under discussion but not yet fully in place.
Board members asked about application of the same processes to secondary schools, math and science indicators, and the role of data tools such as PowerSchool and FastBridge in combining information. District staff said math and other indicators are included in the same processes and that unified reporting tools (Unified Insights in PowerSchool) help principals access joined data.
The presentation emphasized local capacity building—training principals, freeing teacher work time for data work (SWIM) and using multiple data sources to make targeted decisions rather than relying on hope.
Next steps: district leaders will continue training principals, monitor pilot interventions and provide family reports while reviewing improvements to translation and online access.
