Norfolk board hears state growth‑assessment briefing; presenters flag early literacy gains but warn winter results will 'tell'

Christy Kristen McGarity, the presentation lead, told the Norfolk School Board the division is using the stategrowth assessment to measure student progress and to inform board goals. "We're gonna go through this quick presentation orienting you to the purpose and process of the state growth assessment before reviewing the board goal data resulting from this assessment," she said, explaining the assessment's vertical scaled‑score system and how it supports comparisons across grades.

McGarity said fall results provide "hints" of improvement in early grades. She reported that third graders in the proficient band this fall are performing 7.44 percentage points above the previous fall administration in reading, and that quasi‑cohort comparisons show some grades moving toward stronger performance. She cautioned that the state delayed the testing window this year and that six weeks of additional instruction make it difficult to assign cause: "We have to remember there were 6 weeks of additional instruction ... so there is no way to quantify every single thing that's happening is because of the 6 weeks of additional instruction," McGarity told the board.

Division staff described how vertical scaled scores (a roughly 900–2,000 scale across grades 3–8) and dot‑chart visualizations surface gaps between student groups and guide school‑level inquiry. Presenters said winter is the key midyear administration that will show whether fall trajectories hold and whether students move materially toward proficiency in later administrations. As McGarity put it: "Winter is going to be the big tell."

Board members asked for guidance on what counts as meaningful growth between fall and winter and raised concerns about historical drops in winter scores in some years. Staff responded that they expect to see upward movement from fall into winter and that the division has internal benchmarks (for example, a reading year‑end aspiration around 75 percent proficiency) to help judge trajectory. The presentation highlighted targeted next steps: collaborative instructional walkthroughs using the state K–12 comprehension walkthrough tool, strengthened professional development, use of unit assessment systems (MasteryConnect) to identify standard‑level needs, and student reading plans for older students with literacy deficits.

The division also emphasized subgroup monitoring: staff said Black students and several other identified groups showed relative gains in some quasi‑cohort comparisons, but that English learners and students with disabilities will continue to need intensified supports. Officials said the growth measures will be layered with implementation timelines (tutoring, walk‑throughs, and coaching) to better determine which strategies correlate with improved outcomes.

The board and staff agreed to review winter administration data when available and to use the divisioncompanion documents that provide school‑, teacher‑ and student‑level views to support follow‑up actions.