District presents winter assessment; Cherokee and DPM West show gains

District instructional leaders presented winter assessment results to the Lake Forest SD 67 board on Feb. 25, highlighting school-by-school progress and areas needing attention. Dr. Fitzsimmons introduced the teaching-and-learning team and described three complementary measures (MAP/ECRA/FastBridge) used to triangulate growth. She said the district remains a high-performing system and noted the ECRA percentiles place the district in high national ranks for ELA and math.

Presenters called out specific school-level changes: Cherokee increased the share of students in the top national echelon in reading from about 50% last year to 56% this winter, and the median percentile rose from about the 60th to the 68th nationally. Dr. Fitzsimmons said, “This is a huge celebration for Cherokee,” and coaches described interventions such as LLI and a 6-minute reading routine and earlier identification of skills. Sam Paulson, DPM West principal, added: “Our focus this year has been disaggregating data as early as we can…intentionally designing instruction to help pull them up.”

Presenters also noted areas of concern (for example, some cohorts at Sheridan showing local declines in math) and said they will continue action plans and coaching to address students not growing as expected. The district emphasized the formative value of winter data and previewed spring IAR and MAP testing as next steps for instructional adjustments.