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Oakdale Joint Unified reports modest assessment gains; district flags math as priority
Summary
District staff reported composite-claim state-assessment data is available again for 2024 and showed improvements in ELA and CAST, with math identified as the district’s primary area of concern; staff outlined interventions including common formative assessments, IABs, diagnostic tools and targeted professional development.
District staff presented the Oakdale Joint Unified School District’s 2024 state-assessment results and described next steps to address gaps, particularly in math.
Gillian, the district’s presenter recorded in the transcript, said composite-claim data for ESAC/CAASPP is available again this year, allowing the district to view combined claim categories and obtain more useful student-level information. She reported that, overall, the district showed increases in English language arts and the California science test (CAST), with more modest gains in math.
Gillian highlighted elementary-site improvements at schools such as Cloverland and Sierra View, and noted Magnolia required focused work in math. At the secondary level she said Oakdale Junior High showed year-to-year improvement but Oakdale High School had experienced a dip in math scores; the district has since met with the math department, enrolled teachers in math-framework training, and planned professional-development activities including a 'building thinking classrooms' day for secondary math teachers.
To monitor progress between summative tests, staff described plans to develop common formative assessments and benchmarks, to use interim assessment blocks (IABs) and I‑Ready diagnostics three times per year to identify specific student needs, and to retain tiered interventions and learning labs for students who are two or more years behind. Gillian said the district will continue grade-level collaboration and site-based planning and offered to meet with board members for detailed explanations of the data.
Gillian also noted that Oakdale continues to lead the county in the three tested categories despite demographic differences with neighboring districts, while emphasizing the need for sustained work: "math is our area of concentration," she said in the recorded presentation.
The district singled out Eastan continuation high school for notable gains, attributing improvement in part to smaller class sizes and additional English-teacher staffing. Staff reminded the board of upcoming parent-teacher conferences and scheduled minimum days in November as part of the district’s ongoing data and family-engagement strategy.
The presentation generated discussion about accountability, benchmarks and how to sustain improvement; a board member told staff that tenure rules constrained personnel actions and urged strong early-grade intervention to avoid downstream problems.
Staff recommended and the board accepted the report; Gillian offered follow-up meetings at the district office for trustees who wanted more detailed walkthroughs of the data.
