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Stigler teachers present reading interventions, attendance incentives as A–F scores lag
Summary
Site teachers told the board the district overall grade is a D but highlighted grade-level gains after switching reading measures and launching interventions: Amira for reading, small-group second-grade instruction and Panther Perks attendance incentives. Staff also flagged past benchmark cheating and plans to expand CTE internships and ACT prep.
Teachers and site administrators presented student-achievement data and improvement plans to the Stigler Board of Education on Jan. 12, emphasizing targeted reading interventions and attendance work intended to lift the district's A–F report-card results.
Presenters summarized district report-card indicators — academic achievement, academic growth, English-language proficiency, chronic absenteeism and postsecondary opportunities — and said the district's current overall grade is a D while noting pockets of improvement. "Our academic achievement is a C; academic growth is a C; English language proficiency is an F; chronic absenteeism is an F," a grade-school presenter said while also adding that gains are underway.
Grade-school staff described replacing some STAR assessments with Amira, a tool that records students reading aloud, which they said gives teachers actionable information and faster feedback. "This actually records them reading...you can go back and listen to it," one teacher said, adding the program allows near-term intervention.
Second-grade teachers described differentiated small groups initiated in January. They reported meaningful midyear gains in early-literacy subskills for the groups tested, including alphabetic decoding and phonological awareness; teachers said they started with small 30-minute sessions and are seeing progress in classroom swaps and group rotations.
To address chronic absenteeism, staff described the monthly "Panther Perks" incentive program for grade-school students (themed drinks/giveaways), daily parent contact, and home visits for students at risk of chronic absence. Presenters said only six grade-school students were close to becoming chronically absent at the time and that ongoing outreach has shown improvement.
The presentation also discussed middle- and high-school strategies: high-dosage reading tutoring, Emera use for reading fluency, expanded small-group supports, translator services for English learners, more ACT prep embedded across grade levels, and exploring CTE exam options and internship paperwork so work-based learning counts toward postsecondary indicators.
Presenters acknowledged testing-security concerns after early-year benchmark inflation they attributed to students finding ways to game the system; administrators said increased proctoring and blocking tools reduced cheating and yielded cleaner midyear data. The board and staff discussed whether some gains were inflated by early-year behavior and how to ensure comparability across tools.
The district plans additional follow-up with county and state contacts as needed and asked trustees to consider policy adjustments that could help improve attendance and postsecondary metrics.
