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North Marion SD 15 keeps goals, schedules data deep dives after mixed test results
Summary
Superintendent Dan presented largely unchanged district goals for 2025–26 while highlighting modest attendance gains, a 7‑point rise in third‑grade reading and a jump in eighth‑grade math; the board set a schedule for follow‑up reports and a December YouthTruth survey.
Superintendent Dan presented the district’s proposed superintendent and board goals for 2025–26 at a North Marion SD 15 work session, saying the targets will remain largely the same but must now fit new state accountability measures.
Dan told the board the district is now about one percentage point ahead of the state average for attendance and reiterated a board goal of reaching an 80% average attendance rate. “Our goal is still to get to 80%,” Dan said, noting improvements in every school and singling out gains at the primary level.
The superintendent reviewed academic results from 2023–24 to 2024–25: third‑grade reading rose by seven percentage points, while eighth‑grade math increased from 9% to 21%. Dan credited school‑level efforts and said administrators will continue targeted work to sustain gains. “So to have that go from our lowest to highest is really remarkable,” he said of primary‑level attendance improvement.
Staff emphasized uneven subgroup results. Dez, a district staff member who described curriculum realignment and new classroom practices as drivers of growth, warned that English language learners are not sharing equally in the gains. “We could predictably say if you are an English language learner, you will not pass the math test,” Dez said, calling the gap a priority to address.
The board set a sequence of follow‑up reports to examine the data and district responses: a high‑school report at the Nov. 10 board meeting focused on on‑time and on‑track graduation measures; a full data deep dive on Dec. 8; vice principals presenting attendance work; a middle‑school report in January on eighth‑grade math; and primary/intermediate reports in the January work session on third‑grade reading. Dan also announced a YouthTruth survey for staff, students and families to run three weeks in December with results expected in mid‑January.
The session closed with leadership asking that the scheduled reports identify subgroup trends and concrete interventions so the board can monitor progress and prevent students from “falling through the cracks,” Dan said.
The board adjourned without taking formal votes on the goals at the work session; Dan asked the board to adopt the goals at the November board meeting after the follow‑up reports.
