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Literacy team: midyear screening shows progress; division aims for under 20% 'high‑risk' K‑3 students by spring
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Summary
Kim Tate and literacy coaches presented VALS and MClass/MCAS midyear screening results showing progress in kindergarten and first grade and emphasized fluency instruction and targeted interventions to meet a division goal of reducing high‑risk students to 20% by spring.
Kim Tate and members of the literacy team reported midyear screening results and intervention strategies at the Feb. 23 school board meeting.
Anne Bragg began by reviewing VALS state screener results and said the division set a goal that by spring 2026 no more than 20% of students would be classified as "high risk." Bragg reported district midyear distributions showing kindergarten at about 24% high risk, first grade at 18% (below the goal), second grade about 25% and third grade higher. "By 2026 there will be 20% or less students as high risk students for our district," she said while explaining how the VALS benchmarks map to intervention tiers.
Tabitha Carter presented MClass screening (K‑2) and said kindergarten well‑below percentages improved from 55% at the start of the year to 32% at midyear, with movement from red to yellow and green bands. Jana Beyer and Carrie Lillard reviewed third through fifth grade MCAS trends, noting year‑2 implementation patterns: third grade showed limited midyear change yet improved compared with year‑1 data, and fourth grade showed both growth at the top end and increases in the lowest bands — a pattern other divisions in year‑2 have reported, presenters said. The literacy team emphasized fluency instruction and targeted, aligned interventions for older elementary students.
Board members and parents asked about assessment windows, parent communication and background knowledge deficits for students who missed early grades during the pandemic. Team members described progress monitoring cadences (high risk: every two weeks; moderate risk: three weeks; low risk: monthly), use of student reading plans for high‑risk students, and coaching support for teachers. "We're moving towards the 20% for this spring. That's our goal," the team summary stated.
During board highlights, a board member congratulated Kim Tate on her retirement and the board thanked Montevideo Middle School for hosting the meeting.
What happens next: The literacy team will continue progress monitoring, encourage teacher‑parent communication on reading plans, and report further results later in the school year.
