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Smithville R‑II reports strong i‑Ready elementary gains, raises concerns about state growth metric
Summary
District academic staff told the board that 76% of K–6 students were at or above grade level on end‑of‑year i‑Ready checks and that targeted tiered interventions produced multi‑grade gains for some students; staff also flagged problems with the state growth metric and late testing windows.
Smithville R‑II academic services staff reported end‑of‑year i‑Ready results to the board on July 19, saying 76% of K–6 students were at or above grade level and that elementary schools showed only a 6% spread in results across buildings.
The presenter (academic services staff) said the district’s move to CKLA and a structured literacy program appears to be yielding results, noting that Eagle Heights improved by 8 percentage points in both reading and math. "We had 76 percent of our students that are above grade level," the presenter said. Staff added that teachers balance i‑Ready with weekly team meetings and RTI time to target students behind grade level.
Staff described work with tier 2 and 3 students at the middle and high school levels, reporting that identified students often moved the equivalent of more than one grade level in reading or math over the year. The presenter said the middle‑school data reflected a small cohort: "That was 20 kids," staff said, clarifying that the 46% figure for 7th–8th grade reading referred to those tier 2/3 students rather than an entire grade of roughly 200 students.
Board members pressed on implementation challenges, especially reduced small‑group time under the new resource. "Some teachers pulled [small groups] during their RTI time," academic staff replied, adding that buildings retain autonomy to schedule RTI blocks for reading or math.
The board also discussed state accountability changes being considered by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). A district staff member said a draft proposal could cap the number of schools receiving top ratings and automatically 'bump' percentages in some cases, and called that approach "weird to limit the number of school districts" that can earn top ratings. Staff said DESE had presented the change as a parent‑facing simplification and had not linked it to funding.
The district said it will continue to analyze i‑Ready and MAP results and will provide by‑building fall/winter/spring breakouts as requested. Staff also said MAP scores for 2025–26 are expected in September and that the district is rethinking the assessment schedule to avoid late‑year testing that may produce motivational and data‑quality problems.
The academic services update included plans for an August 4 training on a new tool and several district professional development days focused on competency‑based learning and instructional coaching.
