RSU 14 achievement report: most fall diagnostics at/above national averages; board flags large rise in special-education counts

Christine Hessler, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, presented RSU 14's annual District Achievement Report and walked the board through the report's five sections: demographics, resources, student-learning indicators, fall data sets and bar annual reports. Hessler explained assessment tools used by the district — i-Ready diagnostic and the NWEA state assessment — and cautioned that NWEA norms were re‑updated this year, which complicates direct year‑to‑year comparisons. "We're in the average range where we should be," she said when describing fall i-Ready and NWEA results for most grades and schools.

Hessler and other administrators showed that, in the fall dataset, nearly all grade levels and the district's elementary and middle schools scored at or above the national average on the NWEA in reading and math; the high school was reported as one point below the national average in reading. Board members praised the work and asked for clearer communications to families; the finance representative recommended attaching explanatory pages about how to read results when scores are posted to ParentSquare so families better understand percentiles and national comparisons.

Board members also pressed administration on special-education counts. One member said Windham Primary School showed "almost a 50% increase in students receiving special education services from 10/01/2022." Administrators responded that some of the increase is due to added pre-K students and shifts in student profiles, and that the district has adjusted services and budgets to meet higher needs. Hessler confirmed that the special-education counts presented include pre-K students. Board members urged ongoing transparency about how intervention and special-education services are being tracked and communicated to families as the budget process proceeds.