Big Spring SD reports notable reading gains; district notes rising state benchmarks

Mrs. Datada, the district's director of curriculum and instruction, told the board the district has seen measurable growth across early literacy measures, citing a kindergarten cohort that moved from 23% in tier one in the fall to 74% by spring.

"You will see that our students are growing, which is great," Mrs. Datada said during the committee-of-the-whole presentation, noting that the district's I-Ready diagnostic and Ames Web Plus screeners show progress while the proficiency threshold increases between testing windows. She emphasized that the district's aim is to maximize the percentage of students in tier one and to reduce the number classified as at-risk; across grades 1—8 the district reported I-Ready tier-one rising from 34% (fall) to 57% (spring) and at-risk students falling from 31% to 19%.

Board members asked about causes for the slower middle-school gains and for summer learning loss mitigation. The presenter said the district will pilot an alternate benchmark at the middle school (Firefly) to check whether the assessment, rather than instruction, explains differences and confirmed that I-Ready Pathways remain available to students through Aug. 1 for summer practice. She also described professional development and targeted interventions aimed at helping students who continue to struggle.

The presentation made clear that growth is cohort-based and that some Keystone/Keystone-banked scores reflect earlier course sequences, so district leaders said changes in curriculum and sequencing will take time to appear in cohort-level state reports.