District reports midyear gains on literacy and math; board hears updates on attendance and school supports
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Summary
Superintendents and cabinet presented I-Ready midyear results showing gains in literacy and math, updates on attendance interventions that reduced chronic absenteeism to 24% at the 80th day, and expansion of school-based wellness and support teams.
District leadership presented the Las Cruces Public Schools Board with the midyear strategic-plan progress report, including assessment data, attendance efforts and school-support staffing.
On instructional outcomes, the district uses I-Ready BOY (beginning-of-year) and MOY (middle-of-year) measures to track growth and proficiency. Presenters said 27% of elementary students had met their typical individual growth targets at midyear and middle-school growth targets were at about 46% midyear. Literacy proficiency at K-5 rose from roughly 21% at BOY to about 39% at MOY; middle-school and high-school proficiency also showed increases though staff cautioned that high-school measures are not identical and that I-Ready has less national comparison data for high school.
District leaders framed the data as positive midyear movement while noting work remains. "We should always be trending up from beginning of year where we started," a presenter said as staff highlighted targeted supports and upcoming summative reviews.
On attendance, the board reviewed a district goal to reduce chronic absenteeism by 50%. The attendance team reported 24% chronic absenteeism on the official 80th-day count, down from roughly 33% the prior reported year. The district credited NMSU interns, feeder-pattern social workers and mentorship programs for reengaging students; the team said mentorship groups and home visits are producing improved attendance and grade outcomes for many participants.
Administrators also reviewed the second-year rollout of site-support teams and professional learning cycles that emphasize instructional clarity and student-centered evidence (student shadowing, PLCs, WestEd partnership). Principals and teachers reported positive experiences with on-site coaching and clarified that the support model targets maximum, moderate and monitoring tiers of campus need.
Board members asked for school-level breakdowns of attendance and for continued focus on secondary implementation of I-Ready and alignment with end-of-year summative assessments. Staff said the next reporting cycle will include summative results and additional disaggregation.