Rochester administrators propose data-driven interim goals, recommend state growth rate as target
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Summary
Administration presented interim board goals and guardrails using a comparative methodology and recommended aligning multiple growth targets to New York State rates (e.g., 2.5% annual ELA growth). The board discussed credits-by-end-of-ninth-grade and requested follow-up on interventions to accelerate growth.
District staff presented interim board goals and guardrails that would establish a new baseline year and reset the district’s five-year horizon to 2026–2031.
Executive Director of Accountability Dr. Ordon described a three-step methodology: compare Rochester to demographically similar districts and New York State, calculate average rates of change across those comparators, and use those rates to recommend annual targets. "Aiming for the highest, we recommend that we go with New York State's growth," Dr. Ordon said, recommending a 2.5% annual growth target for some ELA measures.
Chief Deputy and instructional leaders said the district will pursue curricular review, revisions to common formative assessments (CFAs) and SEL approaches to strengthen instruction and accelerate student growth. Deputy Wright said the work includes "evaluation of all the curricular plans," review of curricular materials, support for principals' instructional leadership and revised CFAs to give principals a clearer way to assess growth toward targets.
Board members probed the comparators and methods (why the "big five" urban districts were used and whether surrounding districts were examined), and asked what concrete interventions would be implemented if the district doesn't meet the recommended rates. Staff said they also reviewed other urban districts (Syracuse, Buffalo, Yonkers) and will provide additional detail as part of the administration's follow-up.
On credits, the administration proposed changing Goal 1d to measure the number of students earning five or more credits "by the end of ninth grade" (July 1–June 30) rather than the prior cohort-focused reporting window; staff said district-level cohort credit accrual data needed for cross-district comparison were not publicly available.
What happens next: administration will refine metric language and return the interim goals to the board for approval in February; commissioners requested more detail about the specific instructional interventions tied to each target.
Quotes
"So we're aiming for that 2.5% because our students should be performing at the same rate as students across the state," Dr. Ordon said when explaining the recommended target for ELA growth.
"We are starting with an evaluation of all the curricular plans ... and working with principals on supporting their strong instructional leadership," Deputy Wright said when asked what will be done to accelerate growth.