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Chester UFSD presents i-Ready and New York State assessment gains; district highlights math and reading progress
Summary
Miss O'Hara presented i-Ready diagnostics and New York State assessment and Regents results on Nov. 20, reporting year‑to‑year gains (i-Ready reading up to 59% mid/above grade level at spring) and high Regents pass rates in several subjects; the district posted the full presentation online.
Miss O'Hara presented an overview of the district’s most recent i-Ready diagnostic and New York State assessment results to the Chester Union Free School District Board of Education on Nov. 20, saying the data show measurable student growth since the pandemic period.
"We went from 27% in the fall to 59% in the spring" for students performing early, mid or above grade level in reading, Miss O'Hara said, describing the i-Ready diagnostic’s adaptive measurement and its role alongside New York State summative assessments. She emphasized that i-Ready and state exams serve different purposes: i-Ready provides immediate, adaptive instructional data while state tests are summative snapshots used for broader comparisons.
The presentation included three years of i-Ready trends and grade‑level breakdowns. Miss O'Hara reported that fall 2024 i-Ready reading results showed 33% of students at mid/above grade level, and that district math results (K–8 average) increased to about 50% mid/above grade level in the spring after a lower fall baseline. She highlighted that small cohorts can move district percentages by whole points — "we have fewer than 90 students per grade level" — making participation and cohort size important context for percentage changes.
On New York State measures, Miss O'Hara pointed to strong Regents outcomes for Chester students: "ELA 94% of students" scored at passing levels (3–5), and other Regents subjects also compared favorably to state averages, though some science and living‑environment results were singled out for continued focus.
Board members thanked Miss O'Hara for publishing the slide deck and the embedded links. Miss O'Hara said the full presentation would be available on the Chester Union Free School District website under Academics → Curriculum and Instruction and that teachers and administrators will continue reviewing the data by grade, teacher and demographic groups to identify instructional priorities.
Why it matters: The district frames i-Ready and New York State results as tools to guide staffing, program choices and professional development in preparation for budgeting and instruction planning. Miss O'Hara stressed that the data inform targeted interventions for students identified as one or more grade levels below expected proficiency.
Next steps: The presentation will be posted online for the public; building teams and district administrators will continue grade‑level and student‑level review to shape instructional and budgetary planning for the coming year.
