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District reports strong midyear growth on MAP and STAR, urges converting growth into achievement
Summary
District presenters said MAP and STAR interim data show strong growth in early grades—especially first-grade reading and select fourth-grade math gains—but achievement remains below national averages in places and the district will target students at the 'approaches' level and phonological awareness in early grades.
District staff told the Course County CSD Board of Trustees on March 2 that midyear results from MAP and STAR assessments show notable student growth across several grade levels, but that the district must focus on converting that growth into higher achievement.
"MAP is a norm-referenced test," the presenter said, explaining the difference between achievement percentiles and growth percentiles and stressing that "if you're at 50th percentile for growth, that's good" but the district seeks growth above the 50th percentile so achievement climbs over time. The presenter identified oral reading fluency and foundational domains—phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and language comprehension—as central diagnostics for K–2 literacy instruction.
The presentation highlighted first-grade oral reading fluency growth in the mid-60s to 70th percentiles districtwide and several campus-level math growth successes: "fourth grade math teams at Carol" were reported at 82nd percentile for growth; Buoie was cited as having an 85th-percentile growth mark and 71st-percentile achievement in fourth-grade math. The presenter said roughly 40% of second graders at midyear had tested out of foundational skills, up from 28% at the start of the year.
On literacy, the presenter identified a gap in kindergarten phonological awareness and said the district is restoring supplemental supports and strengthening pre-K partnerships so children arrive prepared for kindergarten. When asked about counts, the presenter said the district had "right under 400, 389" kindergartners and that "over half" of kindergarten entrants had come from the district's pre-K program.
Secondary data drawn from STAR tests and interim assessments showed improvements in school-improvement measures tied to closing-the-gaps indicators, and the presenter credited new systems, alignment and increased instructional rigor for measurable gains in algebra and eighth-grade math. The presenter also cited a sharp increase in writing participation on STAR compared with past years: "we are now at 82% recruitment" for writing tasks versus much lower prior rates, which improves the reliability of writing scores that count for a portion of STAR results.
Board members pressed for clarity on how the high-school accountability rating was calculated; staff responded that the high-school rating is informed by multiple measures (student achievement, CCMR/graduation, attendance and school quality indicators) and not solely the STAR score, noting state reporting changes around 2021–23 affected the timing and presentation of ratings.
The presenter concluded that while growth percentiles are a bright spot, the district will concentrate on students at the "approaches" level, expand targeted tutoring, embed analytical writing practices and sustain systems that produced recent gains.
The board moved on to a facilities update after the assessment presentation.
