District reports spring 2025 state assessment results, explains new cut scores and LETRS teacher training; outlines alternate screener for students with severe,
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Summary
Assistant Superintendent Holly Ingram reviewed finalized 2025 state assessment results and KSDE's new cut scores aligned to ACT/AP measures; district credited LETRS training for recent gains. Separately, executives outlined CAELs, the Kansas alternative early literacy screener for K 3 students with significant cognitive disabilities.
The board received two linked presentations on assessment and literacy supports.
Holly Ingram, assistant superintendent of learning services, reviewed the spring 2025 state assessment results and explained that Kansas adopted new test forms and new cut scores this year to better align performance levels (1—4) with other measures such as ACT, AP and graduation outcomes. "The standards remained the same," Ingram said, "but there was a new assessment which resulted in new cut scores." She warned that 2025 results are not directly comparable to 2024 because of the assessment change but said the district is seeing upward trends in ELA and math.
Ingram and the superintendent linked some of the gains to district investment in LETRS professional development for elementary teachers. Ingram outlined LETRS implementation: districts used in-service days and online modules across multiple years; volume 1 focused on word recognition and decoding and volume 2 emphasized comprehension and assessment. She said the district used ESSER funds to support broad staff participation from 2022 forward.
Separately, Ryan Olliman and Nikki Seeley (executive directors for student support services) described the Kansas alternative early literacy screener (CAELs) for K 3 students who qualify for the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) alternative assessment pathway. CAELs is teacher-administered, grade-level rubrics with five ratings and is used for students who cannot be reliably measured by the typical FastBridge screeners. District staff said CAELs is for a small subset (under 1%) of students and that DLM/CAELs eligibility is discussed annually at IEP meetings.
Board members asked about growth predictability under the new assessment and inquired when public data (Data Central) would reflect the finalized results; staff said the published numbers match Data Central and that two years of new-assessment data will make growth expectations clearer.