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Ronald Reagan Elementary staff credit gamified testing strategy as benchmarks and subgroup scores rise
Summary
Teachers from Ronald Reagan Elementary told the New Berlin School Board they used gamified testing incentives and classroom strategies to reduce test anxiety and reported gains across math and reading benchmarks, including improvements for students with IEPs. Students presented invention pitches as part of a literacy assessment.
Angela Patterson, principal at Ronald Reagan Elementary, told the New Berlin School Board that the school is "significantly exceeding expectations" on its school report card for the first time in six years and attributed part of the improvement to deliberate assessment culture and student motivation strategies.
"For the first time in our six years, we are significantly exceeding expectations on our school report cards," Patterson said, introducing a presentation by the school's fourth-grade team. Associate Principal Matt Stick joined Patterson in outlining instructional supports and data trends.
Teachers described using a Super Mario–themed gamification of the state Forward Exam that included bulletin-board goal-tracking, classroom decorations, mystery reward boxes, star stickers for completed tests and culminating celebrations. Amy Iikstead, a teacher representative on the school's instructional team, said the approach was intentionally designed to lower test anxiety so students could access higher-order thinking during exams.
"We wanted to see what we could do to make sure that we are getting as much out of our students as possible," Iikstead said, describing a focus on relational and rewarding classroom practices drawn from the neurosequential model.
Staff reported specific assessment shifts: the percent of students meeting a math benchmark rose from 75% to 77.6%; early-math scores held at 85%; second-grade automaticity increased from 71% to 78%. In literacy, kindergarten letter–word fluency rose from 63% to 87%, and oral reading fluency for grades 1–3 increased from 72% to 77%. Teachers noted improvement among students with IEPs (for example, oral reading fluency rising from 37% to 42%).
The team emphasized growth measures as well as raw scores: by percentile, 50% of students grew in math from fall to winter and 52% grew in reading; 75.6% showed growth in either reading or math, and staff reported 93% of students demonstrated growth when considering score or percentile measures.
Teachers also described classroom strategies summarized by a "POWER" acronym posted in every classroom, daily reminders during small-group instruction and a 15-day instructional challenge focused on targeted small-group practice. Staff said follow-up surveys showed students overwhelmingly found the incentives motivating; one student pitch presented to the board illustrated the classroom emphasis on creativity and communication.
"Have you ever wanted to clean up faster or keep your kids busy?" student Michaela asked as she and classmate Harlo described their recorded invention, the "Bizzy Glider," a portable tent for stuffed animals that doubles as a cleanup solution.
The presentation closed with extracurricular and community updates: Ronald Reagan's HSA raised $60,000 through a fun-run fundraiser, the school plans a family literacy night April 29 tied to an all-school read, and a library remodel is scheduled to begin in June with HSA and donor support.
Board members thanked the staff and invited them to stay; no board action was required on the presentation.
The school presentation was the first of six scheduled this year to give the board updates on district schools.
