Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Assessment Attendance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Norfork reports above‑average interim scores, flags chronic absenteeism and seeks $700K tutoring grant
Summary
Miss Jones told the board Norfork’s interim and summative results are above state averages in several subjects; staff reviewed chronic absenteeism trends and described a recently submitted high‑impact tutoring grant application of roughly $700,000 to serve prioritized students.
Miss Jones presented the district’s most recent interim and summative assessment reports, telling the board that Norfork outperformed state averages in multiple subjects and grade bands. She summarized district averages with examples: “we beat the state average almost every time,” citing an example ELA comparison (district ~42.31% vs state ~31.54%) and noting district strengths in several grade levels.
The presentation included a chronic absenteeism report that compared pre‑pandemic, pandemic and post‑pandemic attendance rates statewide and by subgroup. Staff emphasized that absenteeism rose post‑pandemic and remains disproportionately high among students eligible for free and reduced‑price lunch, special education students and students experiencing homelessness. The district’s reports also showed the district performing better than the co‑op and state averages in several metrics for 2023–24 and 2024–25, a point staff credited to local attendance efforts.
Miss Jones and Miss Braun described how the district uses DIBELS and Atlas interims to place students in intervention groups and monitor progress. Staff noted they perform progress monitoring for students below benchmark and adjust intervention frequency accordingly.
On federal and state support, staff said the district submitted a high‑impact tutoring (HIT) grant application totaling a little over $700,000 to provide targeted tutoring services. The proposal identified cohorts (for example, 28 K–2 students for ELA and 206 students for math in certain grades) and planned to meet a required 70/30 match expectation largely through in‑kind contributions. Staff said award decisions were expected in late June and that, if funded, the program would be in place by mid‑October.
Board members asked about parent access to scores and staff recommended a parent‑education session during conferences or another evening event to explain how to read interim and summative reports. Staff also said they will continue to split students into interventions and re‑evaluate as Atlas and DIBELS results arrive.
