Northern Lehigh principals report mixed beginning‑of‑year test results; district outlines targeted interventions

Principals from Peters, Slatington, the middle school and high school presented beginning‑of‑year benchmark results to the Northern Lehigh School Board, describing gains in some grades alongside persistent deficits that will drive targeted intervention.

At Peters Elementary, Principal Mr. Schneider said the DIBELS 8 snapshot showed kindergarten with 41% of students ‘‘well below benchmark’’ and a combined 49% at or above benchmark in first grade; Peters’ composite, he said, improved roughly 5 percentage points from last year and aligns with national averages for the assessment. "So overall, between last year and this year as a school from the beginning of the year, we've seen a 5% improvement," Schneider said in his presentation.

Slatington Elementary Principal Mr. Breiner reported a shift from 47% to 53% of students at or above benchmark in grades 3–5, a gain staff attributed to adoption of tier‑1 curricular changes (CKLA) and related instructional practices. Breiner also presented IXL snapshots that showed 47% of students at or above grade level in ELA but 49% below or far below; math IXL at Slatington showed 40% at/above and 54% below/far below.

Middle‑school principal Mr. Williams, identified as the district’s new Northern Lehigh Middle School principal, said middle‑school IXL data revealed large shares in the ‘far below’ category for some standards (notably reading strategies and certain math skill strands). Williams described interventions including a 40‑minute WIN period and twice‑weekly targeted small‑group remediation and enrichment: "If you are in that red area far below grade level, you are going to be grouped based on that content area into an intervention group that's going to meet with those teachers," he said.

At the high school, Dr. Volley presented semester‑level benchmark snapshots and a new SEBAST biology pretest. He said about 19.2% of students were ‘‘performing above grade level’’ in ELA — a gain from last year — but that math remains an area of acute need, with an initial math snapshot showing roughly 79.5% of tested students in the "far below" category. Volley described a schedule of four benchmarks across the semester (initial, early November, pre‑winter break, and pre/post Keystone) to track progress and said the next benchmark would be early November.

District administrators told the board they analyze cohort movement internally and can pull cross‑year cohort comparison data on request; principals said these snapshots will inform in‑school interventions and resource allocation. The district also plans to use IXL ongoing practice data alongside periodic benchmarks to monitor progress.

The board did not take formal action on the presentations; members asked for additional cohort and longitudinal comparisons to show whether kindergarten cohorts make gains when they move to first and second grades.