Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
District introduces gap-closure coach, Branching Minds dashboard as part of equity audit response
Summary
The superintendent and assistant superintendent presented equity-audit follow-up work and introduced Carrie Kelly as the district’s gap-closure coach, who described use of the Branching Minds MTSS dashboard, an eighth-to-ninth-grade transition plan and professional learning goals.
South Kingstown’s leadership presented an update on the district’s equity audit and introduced Carrie Kelly as the new gap-closure academic coach, describing priorities aimed at narrowing achievement and opportunity gaps.
Superintendent Pedraza cited the equity audit’s recommendations and turned the presentation over to Assistant Superintendent Seager. Seager said the district moved quickly after the audit’s final draft to reestablish and staff the gap-closure coach position and to align the work with the district’s strategic priorities. “Part of that priority is specifically eliminating achievement and opportunity gaps,” Seager said.
Kelly, who identified herself as a South Kingstown High School graduate and a parent in the district, outlined concrete initiatives: implementing an MTSS data dashboard (Branching Minds) to aggregate screener, assessment, grading, attendance and behavior data; developing an eighth-to-ninth-grade transition plan with targeted lessons on executive functioning; and expanding assessment and college-readiness supports. “We have a one-stop shop where teachers and educators can see a holistic picture about their student,” Kelly said of the Branching Minds platform.
Kelly described plans for professional learning to help teachers interpret and use the data, co-teaching parity between special-education and classroom teachers, and trauma-informed safety training planned for June. Committee members asked for a demo of the dashboard and for clarity about how the new tools integrate with school improvement teams; Seager and Kelly said the platform is in pilot and will be broadened with professional learning and team support.
Also during the superintendent’s personnel report, the committee congratulated AJ Sherman on his appointment as the district’s athletic director and approved the personnel terms of his contract by voice vote. “I’m extremely thankful for this opportunity,” Sherman said.
What happens next: Kelly and Seager will continue pilot work this spring and summer; the committee asked for a dashboard demonstration at a future meeting and for continued reporting on indicators tied to the equity-audit action plan.
