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District presentation shows elementary MCA gains and persistent achievement gaps
Summary
District staff presented elementary MCA participation and proficiency data: participation is back near pre-pandemic levels; district outperformed the state in reading and math at several grades, but persistent gaps exist across race, income, English learner and special education groups; science showed a decline amid standards transition.
The board received an elementary assessment briefing from Elsa, the district’s elementary data presenter, who walked trustees through participation, proficiency and group-level trends in the MCA standardized assessments.
Elsa said participation rates “are, by and large, back to their pre pandemic levels, especially in reading and math,” and reported grade-level differences: the district outperforms the state by roughly 10 percentage points in reading at several elementary grades and shows strong third- and fourth-grade math performance but a relative dip in fifth grade tied to curriculum alignment. She noted fifth-grade science participation and performance are influenced by a multi-grade standards transition: “Grade 5 is at, I believe, 97% participation. Grade 8, 94,” she said when discussing participation and added that science was about nine percentage points higher than the state average but trending down.
Presenters highlighted persistent achievement gaps by race, gender, free-and-reduced-price-lunch status, English learner status and special education. The board discussed follow-up requests including disaggregating EL results with the WIDA access exam data, reviewing intervention effectiveness (including summer targeted services and state-funded interventionist positions), and exploring whether the use of a 6–8 curriculum in fifth grade (a HALT curriculum) creates alignment issues for the fifth-grade MCA. Superintendent and board members asked staff to report back with additional crosswalks between local assessments (FastBridge/Fast) and the MCAs and to provide more analysis of intervention outcomes.
Board members said they want clearer communication materials to help families interpret scores and suggested presenting secondary data next month to show longitudinal trends.
