Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Assessment Dashboard topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Poway Unified dashboard shows 60% meeting science standard, trustees press for targeted interventions
Summary
District staff presented the 2023‑24 California School Dashboard: 60% of students met or exceeded science standards (a ~1% decline), math and ELA showed small declines, and the district highlighted interventions (PBIS, restorative practices, co‑teaching, IMSE); trustees requested deeper dives on site‑level responses and supports for long‑term English learners.
Poway Unified staff presented the district’s California School Dashboard data for 2023‑24 at the April 10 board meeting, highlighting areas of strength and areas needing targeted interventions.
Executive Director Christine Donnelly told trustees that six of seven dashboard indicators for PUSD were in the green or blue performance levels and noted particularly strong results on college and career preparedness (74.3 percent for the district among large‑district peers). The presentation drew attention to the science indicator, which Donnelly described as newer to the dashboard: "Overall, 60 percent of our students met or exceeded standards," she said, noting that was roughly a 1 percent decline from the prior year.
On mathematics, Donnelly reported 65.5 percent of tested students at or above standard (a slight decrease), and for English language arts the district saw 73.5 percent meeting or exceeding standards — an 11 percentage‑point decrease from the prior year on the measure presented in the dashboard. Donnelly outlined district strategies to address areas of decline, including adoption of research‑based curriculum and professional learning (IMSE for early literacy, Illustrative Math, co‑teaching models, expanded Excel courses in high school), targeted student supports and tiered interventions, and a district attendance dashboard to reduce chronic absenteeism.
The dashboard also added a new student‑group category, long‑term English learners (LTELs), Donnelly said, and the district will use that data to target supports. Board members requested more detailed, site‑level information about where declines begin by grade and which interventions are planned or underway. Trustees specifically asked for: a deeper presentation on the initiatives cited (how they operate, measures of effectiveness), site reviews for significant year‑to‑year drops, and clarification about which alternate or adaptive assessments are included on the dashboard.
During Q&A, trustees and staff discussed why certain changes appear at specific grade levels (staff noted declines often become more apparent in middle school and high school, and cohort effects from suspended testing years complicate direct cohort comparisons), the role of co‑teaching and specialized supports for students with disabilities, and how site master schedules and priority placements can support students at risk.
Why it matters: The dashboard is a public state metric that drives local planning (LCAP) and site‑level interventions. The board’s request for deeper dives and site‑level plans signals that trustees expect detailed operational timelines and measurable student‑level supports to accompany the headline results.
What’s next: Staff committed to follow‑up reports that disaggregate results by grade and site, provide details on the named initiatives' implementation, and clarify the dashboard's inclusion of alternate/adaptive assessments.
