Charles County highlights winter i‑Ready and new kindergarten assessment results; Billingsley Elementary credits small‑group interventions

Charles County Public Schools Superintendent Maria Navarro on March 10 told the Board of Education that the district has seen signs of progress in winter diagnostic assessments while cautioning that work remains to move more students to grade level.

"Our students are growing, they're learning, and they're excelling," Navarro said, citing performing‑arts recognitions and staff certifications as part of broader district momentum while introducing the i‑Ready and kindergarten readiness materials the board reviewed.

At the school level, Billingsley Elementary staff described how targeted interventions contributed to measurable gains. "Small‑group interventions are successfully closing these achievement gaps," said Mrs. McKnight, Billingsley's math coach. She reported a 13% decrease in students two or more grade levels behind in math and an 8% decrease for students one grade level behind; overall, the school saw a substantial increase in students on or above grade level for reading, with Billingsley achieving the district's second‑highest stretch growth.

Beth Scoresby, who presented the new kindergarten readiness assessment (the CRA), explained that the state‑mandated fall administration now produces three separate scores: Star Early Literacy, Star Math and SABERS (a 19‑item social, academic, emotional behavioral screener). Scores for the fall window placed Charles County slightly above the state average in Star Math (57% of kindergartners at the "established" level versus 55% statewide) and close to the state averages in the other components.

District staff described how the new data are used. School teams conduct data nights for families, set I‑Ready goals with students, and use coaching cycles and classroom walkthroughs to translate findings into instruction. "We follow up the feedback as needed by meeting with teachers to plan, conduct a coaching cycle, model lessons, and co‑teach," said Melinda Czajkowski, reading coach at Billingsley.

Board members asked how parents who cannot attend evening or noon data nights will be reached. Navarro and school leaders said sessions are offered virtually and in person at multiple times, that parent reports are sent home after each diagnostic window, and that schools are working on concise, digestible communications and short videos to help caregivers act on the data.

Next steps the district identified include continuing winter→spring monitoring, adjusting tier‑two and tier‑three supports based on progress monitoring, holding professional development focused on small‑group instruction, and piloting additional summer programming targeted at students in the "yellow" (mid‑level) category to accelerate their progress into green (on grade level).

The board did not take formal action on the data presentation; staff said full datasets are posted in the meeting appendices and on BoardDocs for public review.