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District says majority of students with IEPs met winter benchmarks; board hears action steps
Summary
Dr. Escobar and Dr. Sterpen told the board that winter MAP results show greater than 50% of students with IEPs meeting benchmarks in multiple grades and described interventions — co-teaching training, role specialization and Amplify ELA — credited for recent gains.
Dr. Escobar reminded the board of a district goal: "50 percent of our students with IEPs or special education services would meet the proficiency benchmark on the IAR assessment," and presented winter MAP results the district says show meaningful progress toward that goal. She reported that in spring 2025, 46.7% of students with IEPs met the ELA benchmark and 41.6% met math; the winter MAP snapshot showed more than 50% meeting the benchmark in multiple grade levels (examples cited: 4th grade math 59%, 4th grade reading 63%, and 8th-grade ELA 64%).
Dr. Sterpen described concrete action steps that staff say contributed to the improvement: a district review of the continuum of special education services that clarified roles; role specialization for teachers to reduce split responsibilities; a co-teaching professional-learning 'reboot' involving about 47 educators and coaches; coaching cycles; and three years of implementing Amplify ELA. "This type of growth is not typical and it's something that we're very proud of and requires intentional planning and a laser focus and commitment by all," Sterpen said. Board members pressed for explanations of uneven middle-school results and asked staff to track longitudinal exits from IEPs and subgroup filters; staff said they will provide additional data.
