Philomath highlights third-grade reading gains, expands speech-language support for K–1

Susan, introduced during the session as a staff member working on assessment and instruction, summarized the district’s focus on measuring growth and targeting early literacy rather than relying solely on high-school participation rates in state tests. Susan and the presenter said third-grade participation runs about 92% and third-grade proficiency grew from 45.4% in 2018–19 to 57.6% last year, making the district one of roughly the top 25 districts on that metric in the state.

Nut graf: District staff told the board they are prioritizing programmatic growth indicators and have used a state-funded early literacy grant to create supports for oral language and reading. To stretch scarce special-education staffing, the district worked with the educational service district (ESD) to place a speech-language pathology assistant under ESD supervision to serve K–1 students who are not identified for special education.

Susan described why the move matters: higher participation at early grades offers a more reliable measure of progress and the new assistant allows speech-language pathologists to focus where they are most needed without reducing caseload support for identified students. Presenter said the district has asked the Clemens Primary School speech-language pathologist, Rachel Roberts, to provide data to demonstrate the program’s impact.

The board discussed volunteer reading programs, the return of a SMART volunteers program and the elementary "Battle of the Books" participation: staff said volunteers are plentiful and small-group instruction models are again in use. No board action was taken; staff said they will continue to collect and present growth data to inform program decisions.