Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Literacy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District reports gains in grade‑8 writing and outlines summer supports to close gaps
Summary
Providence Public Schools presented interim grade‑8 writing and standards mastery data showing gains between beginning‑ and end‑of‑year diagnostics, and outlined teacher PD, a family summer toolkit and library partnerships to address persistent literacy gaps.
At the May 20 meeting Mikaela Keegan, the district's executive director of curriculum and instruction, presented an update on grade‑8 literacy, focusing on writing diagnostics and standards‑mastery assessments the district uses as interim measures toward a RICAS ELA proficiency goal of 25% by 2030 (from 15.9% in June 2025).
Keegan said the district's in‑house writing diagnostic, administered three times this year, showed improvement in ideas and conventions from beginning to end of year. She also reported that for three of four priority standards assessed with short standards‑mastery checks, students increased mastery between form A and form B; one standard (analyzing stories and drama) showed a decline that staff said they will analyze for curricular placement and timing.
Keegan outlined practical next steps: a teacher professional development session in June devoted to writing across the content areas, a teaching and learning team scope and sequence to support common planning and calibration, a family summer toolkit and continued partnerships with the community libraries of Providence to provide devices and space for summer practice. She also noted the district is pursuing a grant to pilot Paloma, a text‑message based family literacy program.
Keegan said the district will continue to refine its interim assessments and share school‑level disaggregations with the board to identify where strategies are most effective.
