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Woodburn elementary principals report early-year reading and attendance data; district adopts STAR diagnostic
Summary
Washington and Neli Muir principals briefed the board on early-year STAR diagnostic results, reading interventions and attendance targets, highlighting bilingual assessment strategies, targeted supports for students with disabilities and an upcoming January attendance challenge.
Washington Elementary Principal Alfred Bellinger and Neli Muir’s principal (identified in the meeting as Peter) briefed the Woodburn School District 103 board on early-year reading assessment results and attendance initiatives.
Bellinger said Washington has adopted the STAR assessment for universal screening and progress monitoring and reported that the school’s average meeting-grade-level benchmark in Spanish is about 59%. He described a reading-intervention model that places roughly half of Washington’s roughly 205 students into flexible intervention groups supported by teachers, classified staff and specialists, and said teachers set quarterly goals based on core-review data. “We are a fully bilingual school, so all the classes are in Spanish,” Bellinger said, adding the school expects growth toward a 10% reading-gain goal by spring.
The Neli Muir principal told the board the school tested students in their instructional language this fall and will assess in both English and Spanish in the winter window. He described baseline results that show growth versus last year (for example, a cited beginning-of-year fourth-grade proficiency of about 20.5% compared with roughly 10% the prior year on the state test cohort) and said teachers are using core reviews, phonics and “opportunity to respond” strategies to accelerate learning.
Both presenters emphasized attendance as a priority. Bellinger said Washington’s regular-attender rate is near 77% and described classroom- and school-level incentives; Neli Muir’s principal outlined a January attendance challenge and classroom reward strategies to raise rates, particularly among kindergarten students, who showed the lowest regular-attender percentages.
Board members pressed for clarification on measures and cohorts; Bellinger noted the district shifted from MAP to STAR this year because STAR provides bilingual diagnostic tools and more frequent progress monitoring. The principals said the full English-language assessment and more cohort-level comparisons will be shared after the winter testing window.
The board is scheduled to visit Washington and Neli Muir on Dec. 11 to see school practices in person.
