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Curriculum coordinator says midyear diagnostics show growth; district remains cautious about national NAEP comparisons
Summary
Curriculum coordinator Michelle Lake told the board Winslow uses a mix of state three‑year assessments, I‑Ready diagnostics and local measures to track both growth and achievement, reporting midyear gains (median progress 62%) and subgroup improvements while cautioning NAEP results are not directly comparable to district trends.
Michelle Lake, the district’s curriculum coordinator, told the board how Winslow measures student progress and laid out midyear diagnostic results that district leaders said show encouraging movement but require continued attention.
Lake listed the district’s assessment toolbox — the three‑year state assessment (NLEA), Meridian science assessment, I‑Ready diagnostics, DRA reading inventories and other classroom measures — and stressed the distinction between growth (progress over time) and achievement (level of performance). "We look for two different kinds of things, two different pieces of information: 1 is growth and 1 is achievement," she said.
On midyear I‑Ready reporting, Lake said the district’s median percent of annual growth completed stood at about 62% at midyear, which she described as "ahead of the game" for a midpoint check. She cited subgroup improvements, including a drop in the percentage of elementary students in the lowest (red) band from roughly 25% in the fall to about 14% at midyear, and an increase in the green (on/above grade) band from about 15% to 39%.
Lake also explained differences between NAEP (the national assessment) and the state/local assessments, cautioning that NAEP is a representative sample used for state‑by‑state comparisons and may not directly reflect Winslow’s local trends. "For us locally, it's not something that I'm going to lose sleep over because there's nothing there that really informs me and points directly to Winslow Public Schools," she said.
She described curriculum and instruction changes to align with state assessment shifts — notably updating science instruction to match the next‑generation science standards and creating local unit tests that mimic the application style of the Meridian science assessment — and outlined support structures such as intervention plans, PBIS, and teacher professional development tied to Title I and Title II funding.
Lake invited the board and the public to consult the Department of Education’s data dashboard for fuller state and subgroup comparisons and emphasized the district uses multiple measures to guide classroom and school decisions.
