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Elementary staff cite reading gains and secure state literacy grant
Summary
Elementary staff presented assessment data showing reading largely held steady and math growth in NWEA results, explained interventions including summer tutoring and Orton-Gillingham training, and said the district won a Section 35j literacy grant to fund teacher training and classroom libraries.
Amy Tork, an elementary-school presenter for Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools, told the board the district saw gains in math and steady results in reading after targeted interventions and summer programs. "For math, we grew all the way to the 66th percentile," she said, and for reading the school averaged roughly the 58th–59th percentile on NWEA results.
Tork outlined the district's assessment and intervention strategy: multiple annual assessments (NWEA, AIMS, a Delta math assessment), teacher-led data days, small-group planning, Orton-Gillingham training over six days for about 14 teachers, summer tutoring that focused on reading and jump-start groups for students who did not make full-year growth. She said about 100 students were invited to summer tutoring and roughly 79 attended regularly, and noted the district measures summer-program gains by pre- and post-assessments.
Explaining next steps, Tork said staff will shift some focus to math because a larger-than-desired share of students fell into the intervention tiers for math. She also described curricular work: an elementary pilot to research new ELA resources using independent reviewers (Reading Lakes Compass, EdReports, ESSA evidence) and town-hall-style vendor presentations on Mondays to narrow options before classroom observations.
On funding and supports, Tork announced the district applied for and was awarded a Section 35j state literacy grant. "We applied for a 35 j grant, and we were awarded it for literacy from the state," she said, and noted the grant will underwrite local, regional and state-level training for teachers and classroom library purchases for each pre-K–5 teacher.
Board members asked about outreach to families (for example, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library) and how classroom libraries will be selected; staff said there is a rubric for choosing high-quality books and that training on literacy essentials and phonemic awareness is scheduled for early-release Wednesdays. The presenter asked the board for continued support and offered to return in January with progress updates.
The presentation closed with board thanks to the teachers and staff who led the work and a request that staff provide more granular numbers on schools-of-choice students and other requested data.
