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SC Johnson principal outlines reading, math targets and says disciplinary incidents have fallen
Summary
SC Johnson principal described new K–5 goal-tracking charts, monthly aimsweb assessments and added math coaching to raise proficiency; he said suspensions and repeat disciplinary incidents have fallen while enrollment and staff retention improved.
SC Johnson Principal Mr. Wendt told the Racine Unified School District board on May 18 that the school is using monthly aimsweb assessments and a color-coded, goal-oriented reading chart for K–5 students to monitor progress and push toward higher proficiency.
"We're going to do aimsweb testing for assessment every month," Mr. Wendt said, describing a system that teachers and students use to chart growth and set individual goals. He said the school asks students to set personal targets and uses color bands (red, yellow, green, blue) so students can see incremental improvement.
Wendt said the school set ambitious proficiency targets for reading and will apply the same goal-tracking approach to math with new math coaching. "We're looking at unit assessments," he said, and the school will add a full-time math core teacher next year to support targeted small-group instruction.
He described several operational gains he credited with producing better classroom outcomes: a roughly 2 percentage-point uptick in attendance over the past two years, improved staff retention after a prior hiring surge, and a marked drop in disciplinary referrals. Board members and Wendt discussed the suspension figures during Q&A; Wendt described the change as "drastically improved" and said the number of students responsible for repeated referrals fell substantially.
Board member Mister Clemens asked whether the lower suspension totals reflected real behavioral improvement or simply keeping students in school. Wendt replied that behavior has improved, estimating the subset of students causing many referrals shrank from about 30 to roughly 10 and that hallways and school routines feel more orderly.
The presentation also noted the school's use of monthly PLCs (professional learning communities) to focus on reading, math and instructional cycles and cited work with the district literacy coach, Anne Borthwick, on adjustments for next year. Wendt told the board he expects the school's local data to align with the next state report card and said staff will continue tracking both qualitative and quantitative indicators.
The board thanked staff and students for the presentation and praised the school's bilingual and dual-language efforts.
The board approved the meeting agenda earlier in the session and moved on to additional school presentations.
