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Chico Unified presents statewide dashboard gains; district highlights ELA and math growth, flags absenteeism
Summary
District staff presented California Dashboard results showing year-over-year improvements in English language arts and mathematics for many student groups, while chronic absenteeism remains an ongoing challenge; the district fell into "differentiated assistance" based on subgroup indicators and will work with the county on targeted improvement plans.
District staff presented Chico Unified’s California Dashboard results and a package of instructional strategies that officials and teacher leaders credited with recent gains in student achievement.
Tim Karas (district staff) led the presentation and described the dashboard as the district’s primary accountability report card. He said the district outperformed the state in most indicators, with notable gains in English language arts (a 4.1-point increase in the change score) and a 5.1 improvement in math distance-from-standard for some grade spans. Karas also highlighted subgroup progress: socioeconomically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities showed marked gains in ELA and math.
"We write our LCAP goals based on state expectations... We write we wanna increase by 3. So we exceeded our goal, and that's just a huge celebration for us," Karas said. (Tim Karas)
Teachers and MTSS leads described on-the-ground practices they said contributed to progress: a renewed focus on tier 1 classroom instruction, DIBELS and other screeners in K–5, expanded use of IXL diagnostics in grades 6–9, performance-task coaching and professional collaboration across sites. Several teachers described "building thinking classrooms," small-group instruction and district-led pilots of new math curriculum materials as part of a multi-year implementation.
"We're doing assessments and testing, but when we give the test to kids, they do the performance task and we make sure they have tools so they don't feel overwhelmed," said Erica Bloschke, an English teacher and MTSS lead. (Erica Bloschke)
The district also called out persistent challenges. Chronic absenteeism remained in the orange band and has not yet returned to pre-COVID levels, and while graduation held at 90.6% (above the state), the district said certain student groups (American Indian/Alaska Native, foster and homeless youth) triggered the state's differentiated assistance designation. Karas said the district will work with the county to create and report on improvement plans.
Board members asked whether instructional changes, schedule differences or practices such as IXL might be driving gains; presenters said multiple factors are likely — professional development, targeted interventions under MTSS, more consistent use of diagnostic tools and a focus on classroom instruction.
Officials outlined next steps including continued local data chats with sites, planned curriculum pilots for math, and targeted efforts to support foster and homeless students and English learners. The presentation was informational; the board did not take formal action on accountability designations during the meeting.
