Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Assessments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District presenter highlights ACT and preACT gains; board plans to reduce interim testing
Summary
A district presenter told the board that New London'area students showed strong ACT composite trends, notable growth among the lowest-performing quartile, and recommended reducing some interim testing next year while emphasizing literacy instruction and targeted interventions.
At the June meeting, Mr. Bjorki (presenter) walked the board through year-end results for the preACT Secure (grades 9'10) and the ACT (grade 11), framing the numbers as part of the district's continuous-improvement metrics and key performance indicators.
He told the board that the district's ACT composite has trended positively and that "schools in the state of Wisconsin would kill to have a 21 on their ACT as an average in their school," praising staff work and noting multiple areas of student growth. The presenter highlighted a target subgroup made up of the district's bottom 25% and said that two points of growth in that group is roughly equivalent to a full year'worth of progress; he cited math growth of 2.2 points for that target group and described near-doubling of ELA growth for the same cohort.
The presentation included comparisons between ACT and DPI proficiency measures (which use different cut scores) and showed content-area trends (math, science, English, writing). Presenter recommended fewer interim tests next year: the district plans to remove one practice test from the rotation for 10th graders and continue a nonthreatening practice experience for freshmen to reduce test anxiety while preserving a spring summative data point.
On classroom strategy, the presenter emphasized disciplinary literacy and embedding reading and writing instruction across content areas rather than focusing on test-drill preparation. He said the district will continue targeted interventions for students in the lowest-scoring quartile and work on balanced testing practices to avoid overemphasis on testing at the expense of broader learning.
The board asked questions about online testing, scoring changes, and how the district checks students in for tests. Several board members commended staff work and data presentation; one noted the value of outside resources (Eric Larson from CESA 6) for synthesizing data for building-level use.
Why this matters: The presentation sets district expectations for instruction and assessment use next year and signals a strategic shift toward reducing interim testing while keeping state- and ACT-aligned summative measures for accountability and college readiness.
