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Palm Springs Unified reports midyear reading gains; fluency remains a focus
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Summary
Palm Springs Unified presented midyear results from the DIBELS universal screener, showing notable gains in kindergarten reading accuracy and districtwide improvements in oral reading accuracy; however, staff said fluency (words-per-minute rates) remains a target and the district will expand small-group interventions and progress monitoring.
Jessica Whiteman, the district’s director of elementary curriculum and instruction, told the Palm Springs Unified School District board on March 10 that midyear results from the state-required DIBELS universal screener show measurable growth in early grade reading accuracy but that fluency rates lag behind.
Whiteman said the district elected to administer the screener to every kindergarten through fifth-grade student three times a year—more frequently than the minimum the Education Code requires for K–2—so schools can monitor progress and adjust instruction. She highlighted kindergarten as the cohort with the largest reduction in students classified as “well below,” citing a drop from 51% to 38% in that band between the beginning and middle of the year.
That improvement, Whiteman said, was primarily in oral reading accuracy (students reading words correctly), which the district expects will enable fluency gains over time. She cautioned that composite scores can obscure progress in individual measures because the district weights different subtests; students can show accuracy gains while still scoring “red” on the composite due to slower timed measures.
Board members and parents asked how English learners and dual-immersion students are assessed. Whiteman explained the district follows Education Code guidance: students may be assessed in their primary language (using the Spanish lectura version) if they have not received sufficient English instruction; many dual-immersion students were assessed in both languages. She also described the notification process—ParentVUE documents and bilingual letters with explanatory videos—and urged parents who need practice passages to contact their child’s teacher or school literacy coach.
To respond to gaps, Whiteman outlined district actions: required, data-driven small-group instruction at least four days per week in K–5 classrooms; targeted reading intervention at every elementary site (the district uses the UFLY program for progress monitoring); literacy coaches and TOSAs supporting LETRS-aligned professional development; and a rubric used by the district literacy committee to assess school systems and practices.
Whiteman said the district set three year-end goals at the start of the year tailored by grade level, and school sites have translated those targets into site-specific plans. She promised a full end-of-year update to the board.
The presentation closed with questions about fluency targets and how parents access the midyear reports; Whiteman directed parents to ParentVUE (Documents) and encouraged contact with site teachers or literacy coaches for grade-level practice materials.
The board did not take a policy vote on the screener this evening; the item was informational and scheduled as part of Ed Services’ midyear reporting.
