Assistant superintendent: I‑Ready benchmarks show phonics gains but 43% of students at reading risk

Amanda Payton, assistant superintendent, walked the board through the district’s first I‑Ready benchmark cycle and the tiered intervention model. She reported concrete domain results — "81 percent of our students in McDowell, have mastered phonological awareness" — and said the district has seen a big jump on high‑frequency words after changing instructional approaches. At the same time, Payton told the board that "43 percent of our students who are considered at risk for reading," and she stressed continued emphasis on vocabulary and comprehension instruction.

Payton outlined supports already under way: virtual coaching assignments for teachers, an I‑Ready consultant ("Carl") embedded in schools, classroom modeling by reading coaches, peer walkthroughs, instructional text sets to build vocabulary, and targeted intervention tiers (Tier 1–3). She emphasized family engagement and suggested I‑Ready's at‑home pathways as one way for families to support students outside school hours.