Superintendent details SIP progress as district reports reading gains

Superintendent (speaker 3) presented a mid-year Student Improvement Plan update, telling the board the report "summarizes activities, professional development progress within the Vernonia School District student improvement plan from September of this year to December" and outlined how district priorities tie to instructional decisions and funding.

The presentation highlighted professional development (writing PD delivered by Nelia Solberg and Shauna Pitts), the certification of an in-house ECRI trainer (Kendra Schlegel), and adoption of universal design for learning practices. Administrators reported student assessment shifts: Level 1 readers decreased from 48.4% to 37.7% with notable growth in Levels 3 and 4. The district aims for a 50 student growth percentile (SGP) benchmark; elementary subgroups showed strong growth (one subgroup reached 56.5% high-growth SGP).

Superintendent and administrators described an MTSS rollout for grades 6'8 using STAR assessments to form targeted small-group interventions and monitor progress in 6-to-9-week cycles. "We took the STAR assessment. We determine which students are not at grade level," the superintendent said, describing the identification and grouping process. The board asked clarifying questions about group timing and staffing; administrators said math interventions are still being phased in and will use IXL and targeted staffing to support students.

The board discussed next steps including interim assessments focused on DOK 3'4 questions to mirror Smarter Balanced format and a stronger focus on writing across curriculum to boost ELA outcomes. The superintendent said the practices are intended to be ongoing and to direct funding and staffing to SIP priorities.