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District reports reading gains from Teachers College partnership, board approves expansion contract
Summary
District presenters told the board that a cohort of about 313 monitored students saw a 47% rise to on-grade-level reading after work with Teachers College staff developers; the board approved a $123,750 contract (31A at-risk funds) to expand partner‑school coaching to two additional elementary sites.
Miss Goansky, the district presenter, outlined outcomes from the Teachers College Advancing Literacy partner‑school work and asked the board to approve expanded services. The presentation emphasized in-class coaching, principal lab observations and a district literacy‑leader cohort that spreads practices beyond the intensive partner sites.
"We saw reading growth from this group of students about 313 students in that cohort…47% increase in on‑grade‑level reading," Miss Goansky said, describing how a cohort the district tracked moved from 5% on‑grade level in spring 2025 to 52.5% in first grade for that cohort. She also said partner sites’ average growth exceeded the rest of the elementary schools by about 7.5 percentage points.
Michelle Black, the district K‑12 language arts and ELA curriculum coordinator, and building principals from Hickory Woods, Oakley Park and Wixom described classroom coaching and lab observations as the core mechanism for the gains. "Teachers watch modeled instruction in front of students and go back the next day and use it right away in our classrooms," one teacher quoted anonymously in the presentation said.
After board questions about the cohort size, selection of the next partner sites and alignment with new dyslexia resources, the board voted to approve the district’s Teachers College contract. The administration said the $123,750 cost will be funded from the district’s 31A at‑risk grant and that two additional elementary schools will be added while preserving the current per‑year spending level.
The contract approval is accompanied by planned next steps: site selection for the additional partner schools, closer alignment of coaching with district dyslexia resources (including Imagine Learning phonics), and continued monitoring of student cohorts to measure long‑term impact. The board also asked staff to present final site selections at an upcoming meeting.
