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AGR program reports early-grade gains; student speaker urges attention to transportation and opportunity barriers
Summary
Milwaukee Public Schools presented its Achievement Gap Reduction (AGR) end-of-semester report showing early-grade literacy and math growth in targeted schools (63 schools; 10,205 students). A student public commenter urged the board to address transportation and eligibility policies that affect access to extracurricular and opportunity pathways.
Milwaukee Public Schools administrators told the Committee on Student Achievement the district’s Achievement Gap Reduction (AGR) program showed measurable early-grade gains while also identifying structural barriers that affect student opportunity.
Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellia introduced the AGR update and turned the presentation over to Allison Foyer, early childhood supervisor. Foyer said the AGR program operates in 63 schools (including one non-instrumentality charter) and serves 10,205 students. She provided demographic context: roughly 22.2% of AGR students are English-language learners, 26.7% receive special education services and 87.7% are economically disadvantaged.
Foyer described two core strategies: reduced early-grade class sizes (K5 reported as 18:1; other formats such as 30:2 in K5 were noted) and sustained instructional coaching. She highlighted targeted instructional routines and curriculum supports — counting collections for early math, I‑Ready/myPath individualized lessons, and HMH volume 3 curriculum supports for literacy — and gave outcome snapshots: K5 counting proficiency rose from 22% to 48% by midyear; first-grade midyear proficiency passed 50%; second-grade movement out of the minimal tier increased by 15 percentage points in the reporting window.
During public comment, student Jimmy Copeland, who identified himself as a Golden Meer student and varsity golf captain, urged the committee to consider noninstructional barriers like chronic late district transportation to competitions (he described buses arriving 30–45 minutes late), and recommended that eligibility standards be examined to better prepare students for postsecondary expectations.
Board members pressed staff on multiple operational and evaluation points. Director Ferguson asked whether all students in AGR schools are automatically enrolled; administration confirmed K5–third-grade students in AGR-designated schools are included. Directors asked about cohort tracking versus cross-sectional comparisons, summer learning and summer‑slide mitigation, the number and caseloads of literacy and math coaches, and plans to expand counting collections beyond the 21 targeted classrooms. Administration said teacher feedback on the initiative has been positive and that more detailed coach-caseload and cohort reports will be provided in future updates. Administration also said there are three district math coaches dedicated to support visits and that plans call for returning the same positions next year.
No formal action was taken. Administrators committed to supplying follow-up documentation on coach caseloads, cohort outcomes versus cross-sectional charts, and plans to address summer learning and transportation barriers raised by the student commenter.
