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East Windsor High School presents mixed SAT/PSAT gains and outlines expanded math interventions
Summary
A high-school representative told the East Windsor Board of Education that cohorts showed growth in reading and some gains in math from fall to spring; the district plans early (9th-grade) interventions, a possible unified math intervention block and to retain a math tutor funded in next year's budget.
A high-school representative presented detailed assessment data to the East Windsor Board of Education, saying the district aims for "all our students [to] reach 80% grade-level proficiency with 100% growth on internal and external assessments." The report compared cohort PSAT and SAT baselines and spring results, Alliance-district peers, and Advanced Placement participation, and described instructional strategies and targeted interventions.
The presenter walked the board through cohort outcomes, noting that East Windsor students trailed the Connecticut average on evidence-based reading and writing in earlier grades but showed "nice growth" in many cohorts between fall and spring. For one cohort the presenter said evidence-based reading and writing rose from 26% to 57% and math improved from 16% to 23% over the school year; in other grades the district matched or exceeded the state in math performance. The presenter said the district had high participation on junior-year SAT testing (about 99% of eligible students) and emphasized that PSAT and SAT are different scales with rising benchmarks between fall and spring administrations.
On Advanced Placement participation, the presenter said 42 students took AP classes last year and sat for 74 AP exams; 38% of those exams scored 3–5 (the district uses 3–5 to track proficiency for its reporting). The presenter framed AP and dual-enrollment (Yukon/Eastern Connecticut State University) options as complementary pathways and said the district is increasing AP and college-credit offerings while also working to broaden access.
To strengthen instruction, staff cited 254 informal classroom walkthroughs this school year and described a tiered approach: tier-one instructional improvements across classrooms, tier-two targeted supports, and tier-three interventions for students several grade levels behind. The presenter said more than 20% of students in some cohorts require targeted intervention for math or reading, which the district treats as a system-level issue rather than an individual issue. Proposed remedies included earlier, ninth-grade-focused intervention, scalable tutoring, and a "math block" concept in which multiple teachers provide math intervention simultaneously. The presenter said the district is aligning professional development to observed needs from walkthroughs and using repeated-reading techniques ("three reads") to build higher-order questioning and comprehension skills.
Board members commended the frank presentation. Board member Betsy said she appreciated the realistic framing and the work underway; another member, Fran, said the current staff are "fixing the mess" left by earlier years and urged persistence. Administrators and board members noted that small-district cohort sizes make single students materially affect percentage measures and that state accountability calculations include students in special-education programs who may require additional time to complete programming.
Next steps: staff will continue to monitor cohort performance, refine ninth-grade interventions, pursue options to expand dual-enrollment and AP access where feasible, and report back on outcomes and scheduling plans. The board expressed support for preserving the proposed high-school math tutor position in next year's budget to help deliver the planned interventions.
