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Griffin‑Spalding board hears I‑Ready fall results: strong K gains, a third‑grade dip and attendance worries
Summary
District MTSS coordinator presented I‑Ready beginning‑of‑year data showing kindergarten and first‑grade gains (kindergarten 100% 'ready to learn'), a notable drop around third grade and continued middle‑school challenges; trustees pressed for interventions and reports linking chronic absenteeism to low performance.
Dasha Phillips, the district MTSS coordinator, told the Griffin‑Spalding County Board of Education on Sept. 23 that fall I‑Ready diagnostics show 61% of K–8 students are "ready to learn" in reading and 59% in math at the start of the 2025–26 year.
Phillips highlighted early‑grade strength: "We have 100% of our kindergarteners ready to learn," she said, and noted first‑grade readiness at 92%. But she and trustees flagged a consistent decline beginning in third grade — reading readiness dips to the mid‑50s for third graders — and lower percentages across several middle‑grade cohorts.
Why it matters: trustees said the third‑grade drop is a critical inflection point because students move from "learning to read" to "reading to learn" at that stage and remediation becomes more difficult later. Phillips said the district is using Orton‑Gillingham foundational instruction, tiered interventions and targeted coaching to arrest that decline and boost middle‑school supports.
Board exchanges and requests Board members pressed for specifics on causes and remedies. Vice Chair Sue McDonald said the issue is about solutions, not blame: "I'm not placing blame on anyone. It's not about blame. It's about fixing the issue," she said. Phillips described classroom strategies, coach support, and partnerships with I‑Ready to drive "typical" and "stretch" growth for students who use the program as intended.
Phillips also explained how the district is using I‑Ready to support compliance with House Bill 307 (the state reading/dyslexia screener). "Forty percent of our K–3 students showed no observed risk," she said, while "35% show some risk" and "24% are at risk" for characteristics of dyslexia. The district plans Orton‑Gillingham interventions, tier‑2/3 supports and professional learning for teachers.
Parents and reporting Phillips said parents receive batch reports after each diagnostic and may be given access to students' I‑Ready accounts so families can monitor progress. She said students participate in goal‑setting tied to the program's color‑coded indicators.
Attendance and follow‑up requests Trustees linked performance to chronic absenteeism. Board member Zachary Holmes asked whether the district could cross‑tabulate I‑Ready results with attendance data to see how many students in the 'dark red' group are chronically absent; Dr. Donald Warren and Phillips agreed to request that report. Warren noted district chronic absenteeism concerns and recent juvenile‑court conversations to support attendance work.
What comes next The board asked staff to provide follow‑up reports showing older students served by remediation, progress measures for students far below grade level, and analysis tying absenteeism to diagnostic outcomes. Phillips said I‑Ready will be administered two more times this year to track growth.
The presentation was the meeting's longest exchange and shaped subsequent requests for data and intervention plans.
