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South Whidbey board reviews curriculum, flags midyear assessment trends in reading and math
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Summary
At a board workshop, district staff presented a draft K–12 curriculum map, defended recent adoptions (CKLA/Amplify, ReadyMath, Big Ideas) and flagged midyear iReady data anomalies; the board asked staff to unpack cohort-level results and continue math-focused professional development.
At a South Whidbey School District board workshop, Dr. Clifford and curriculum lead Ms. Phillips presented a districtwide curriculum update and a midyear snapshot of student assessment data, prompting questions from board members about cohort-level declines and next steps.
The presentation covered recent adoptions — K–5 English language arts using CKLA/Amplify, Ready Math at elementary grades and Big Ideas at secondary levels — plus science pilots (including OpenSciEd) and accessibility additions such as Bookshare for audiobooks. Ms. Phillips said the curriculum work is tied to professional development and budget decisions that aim to improve student outcomes.
Why it matters: board members pressed staff for clarity on whether downward trends in some cohorts reflect problems with curriculum, instruction, or testing timing. Ms. Phillips and Dr. Clifford told the board they are breaking the high‑level iReady data into subtests and cohort analyses, and will re-evaluate at the end of the year when full results — including SBAC outcomes — are available.
Ms. Phillips described the ELA materials: “Amplify is the primary English language arts curriculum at the K–5 level,” and she listed approved supplements including CommonLit and Membean. She also highlighted Bookshare as an accessibility resource providing audiobooks for students with disabilities. On science, she said the district piloted OpenSciEd but that some teachers found individual OpenSciEd units time‑consuming and the selected phenomena “falling flat” for students, a concern staff are discussing.
Board members focused much of their questioning on iReady midyear results. Ms. Phillips noted some cohorts had low completion rates at midyear (one kindergarten cohort had about 59 percent of students complete the diagnostic), which can skew the percentage of students reported “at or above” grade level. She explained that in one example 8 percent of that cohort tested at or above grade level at midyear, while the next year that same cohort rose to 32 percent at or above, demonstrating how testing timing and completion rates affect apparent trends.
Director Downs and other board members asked how long the district waits before reassessing a curricular adoption. Ms. Phillips said the district and its Educational Service District partner are in year two of closer work on math instruction and are reviewing whether concerns reflect curriculum selection or instructional practice; district staff are using EdReports and other reviews to assess alignment to standards.
Students who spoke at the workshop praised the diversity of adopted novels. A student representative said the books ‘‘have very important messages’’ and that reading them has been engaging.
Next steps: staff said they will continue to disaggregate iReady and other analytics, consult teachers, and present an end‑of‑year analysis (June) including SBAC data before making adoption changes. The district also plans to publish a clearer K–12 curriculum map online to increase transparency.
