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Elementary OSAS analysis prompts district to bolster writing instruction and embed interim assessments
Summary
District educators told the PAC that OSAS results show the assessment includes substantial writing demands; the district embedded interim assessments into K–5 curriculum maps and will emphasize writing paired with reading to improve outcomes.
Susan Zottola, the district's director of elementary education, presented a data dive into OSAS results and told the council the district discovered the state assessment includes far more writing demands than many educators realized. The analysis prompted a district effort to pair writing instruction with reading and to embed interim assessments across grade‑level curriculum maps as a diagnostic tool throughout the year.
Zottola described a process that included K–5 teacher teams, an ESD consultant and interviews with teachers whose students consistently outperformed peers on OSAS. Staff said they required interim assessments for all 3rd–5th grade teachers to better mirror item formats and to create more regular checkpoints. "We call it a reading test, but it is not; it is far more than a reading test — it is almost as much writing as it is reading," Zottola said.
The district plans districtwide testing windows and schoolwide encouragement activities (themes, shirts and celebrations) to normalize the testing environment. Staff said the OSAS dive also produced low‑hanging operational fixes — small curriculum adjustments in K–2 that more closely mirror assessment formats — that can be implemented without major cost.
