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Superintendent reviews preliminary 2026 test data, narrows I‑Ready use to intervention time, outlines mental‑health expansions
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Golini presented preliminary 2026 assessment results showing a 49.4% ELA proficiency (up 3.4 points) and 38.4% math proficiency; the board heard new guidance limiting I‑Ready to intervention periods and updates on summer professional learning and mental‑health partnerships.
Superintendent Dr. Golini told the District 59 board on June 10 that preliminary 2026 assessment data show modest districtwide gains and reaffirmed a focus on high‑quality instruction and closing subgroup achievement gaps.
Dr. Golini reported the district’s preliminary English language arts proficiency average at 49.4%, a 3.4 percentage‑point increase from the prior year, and math proficiency at 38.4%, roughly matching last year’s reported state average. She stressed that while some grade levels showed significant gains, achievement gaps persist across low‑income students, English learners and students with IEPs and said campus action plans tied to the newly adopted strategic plan will drive targeted interventions.
The superintendent announced a change to district guidance for the I‑Ready instructional pathway: I‑Ready will be used primarily as a supplemental digital resource only during intervention periods (Win/seminar at the junior‑high level) and not during core instruction. Administrators clarified to the board that I‑Ready will not be assigned as homework and that a district committee is reviewing the practice of tying I‑Ready activity to grades.
"I‑Ready is a curricular resource but high‑quality curricular resources without high‑quality instruction makes high‑quality curricular resources irrelevant," Dr. Golini said, emphasizing that teachers and instructional supports remain central to raising outcomes.
Administration also described summer professional learning offerings (42 sessions; more than 100 staff already attended; 640 staff signed up across the summer) focused on HQI, social‑emotional learning, special education and compliance, with a district institute day planned in August to launch HQI work and campus action plans.
Student services highlighted a two‑year partnership with Cartwheel, reporting 882 sessions delivered to students or families, an approximate 14‑day referral‑to‑first‑session turnaround, 74% of sessions provided at no cost to families and 21% of services delivered in Spanish. The district reported that 67% of regularly scheduled participants showed reductions in anxiety and depression rating scores after receiving services. The board was also told the district will add Gaggle Reachout, a 24/7 text‑based counseling option for junior high students funded by the D59 Education Foundation.
Other instructional updates included work on Ridge innovation (defining the school’s identity as a school of choice), rollout of 45 interactive flat panels this year with PD for participating staff, and continued curriculum alignment work across reading, math and science.
Administrators said more granular state accountability data will be available when the Illinois state scores are released; schools will receive campus‑level guidance and professional development over the summer and in August to translate the strategic plan into campus action plans.
