Grand Rapids Public School District presents first Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness and Achievement & Integration reports

CAROL KOPPS, District Literacy Lead, and colleagues presented the Grand Rapids Public School District’s first Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness (CACR) report — the renamed successor to Minnesota’s "World’s Best Workforce" statute — together with the district’s Achievement & Integration (ANI) findings and targets for the 2024–25 school year. The reports will be posted on the district website after board approval.

The presentation framed goals under "readiness, resilience and excellence," listing five district priorities: ensuring children are ready for school, closing racial and economic achievement gaps, preparing students for career and college, maintaining high graduation rates, and fostering lifelong learning. Carol Kopps said the 2024 legislative change renamed the earlier statute to "Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness, or CACR," and noted this is the first annual report presented under the new name.

On early learning, Kopps reported preschool screening gains for 4‑year‑olds based on Early Edge data and said the state is developing a kindergarten readiness assessment. Staff described universal screening tools (FASTBridge/STAR) and a mix of tiered interventions, after‑school supports and curriculum alignment meant to identify needs early and target supports. Kopps also presented staff qualification metrics (more than 90% experienced by MDE standards, 98.5% licensed in subject area and 68.4% with advanced degrees) and a demographic snapshot of the district’s student body.

The report included secondary‑level programs for career planning and postsecondary exploration, citing Xello usage (October 2024: 518 students enrolled, 5.3 average logins, 646 lessons completed) and listed International Baccalaureate, College in the Schools and CareerTechEd partnerships as components of career and college readiness work.

On graduation, staff cited Minnesota Department of Education figures showing Grand Rapids High School at 94.5% (compared with a state average of 84.2%) and noted staff would confirm cohort and denominator methods when asked by board members. The presentation also described implementation practices such as walkthroughs, professional development (Wit & Wisdom, UFLI) and a custom contact log in Canvas to track parent outreach and progress monitoring.

Board members questioned data interpretation, including the timeframe for preschool gains and how graduation rates are calculated; staff responded that preschool gains represented improvement over the school year and agreed to follow up with precise cohort methodology for the graduation data. The meeting closed the CACR/ANI segment by putting the report forward for board approval and posting.

Next steps: the district will post the finalized CACR/ANI reports on its website and supply requested methodological clarifications to the board.