Some areas it may not look like we’re making a lot of progress but we are, because the numbers we have up here right now, those are numbers where kids are proficient on end of year standards.”

Elementary Principal Dean Lew

I was really impressed with how many students moved from Tier 3, which is the highest need of intervention, to Tier 2 which is fewer interventions, and some students to no interventions, across the entire elementary.”

District Superintendent Jeff Koenig

The midyear Achievement Gap Reduction (AGR) Report is in for Stanley-Boyd Schools.
Mandated twice a year by Wisconsin State Statute 118.44 (4), the measure uses tests to assess student achievement gaps in kindergarten through third grade and reduce these. A federal program administered through the state, AGR sends money to districts for student intervention.
Making adjustments for ACT 20 and introducing aimsweb this year as well with a tiered intervention system, the district’s general growth goal is for 90 percent of students in grades K through 3 to understand and perform at benchmark for end of year aimsweb Plus assessments, the goal for third grade math being 80 percent of students at benchmark. To achieve this meant moving kids from needing more intervention to less, organized with tiers. Students identified in Tier 3 of the aimsweb model needed more intervention, students in Tier 2 less intervention, and those in Tier 1 no intervention.
An example of intervention would be students not scoring above the 25th percentile on aimswebs reading test being given a reading intervention plan to get them back on track. Intervention plans are sent home and parents must sign off on them. So how are students and staff doing?
“I can say we’re making progress,” Elementary Principal Dean Lew told board members as he went over the most recent test results. “Some areas it may not look like we’re making a lot of progress but we are, because the numbers we have up here right now, those are numbers where kids are proficient on end of year standards. So we’re at the midway point and these are where the numbers are at right now.”
District Superintendent Jeff Koenig spoke about the new tier system and how it helped with intervention.
“I was really impressed with how many students moved from Tier 3, which is the highest need of intervention, to Tier 2 which is fewer interventions, and some students to no interventions, across the entire elementary,” he said. “I thought it was really impressive. Scores don’t necessarily give them justice for the work that was done with that.” Koenig went on to say that tests are given at regular intervals or windows, with end of year tests having requirements for when they are given and the district having limited leeway. Testing windows stay the same regardless of when a school starts the school year and can affect scores based on instruction covered by the time for assessment.
As for student scores at Stanley-Boyd thus far this year, the numbers show 58 of 75 kindergartners meeting benchmark for the kindergarten end of year assessment in counting cardinality, with 17 of 75 meeting end of year benchmark for operations and algebraic thinking. A total of 29 out of 75 kindergartners are at end of year benchmark for numbers and operations base.
In reading scores, 40 of 75 kindergartners scored 18 or higher on LETRS Spelling, while 58 of 75 scored 12 or higher on aimswebPlus initial sounds. A total of 30 out of 75 kindergartners scored 24 or higher on aimsweb Plus letter naming fluency, while eight of 75 scored 44 or higher on aimsweb Plus letter sound fluency. A full 20 of 75 scored a three or higher on Wonders Phonics Assess.’
In first grade math results, zero students met benchmark, with the instruction schedule meaning some things haven’t necessarily been taught yet, but will be.
As for reading scores, first graders were not assessed on LETRS spelling and aimswebPlus phoneme segmentation over the winter window, while 36 of 62 first grade students scored 25 of higher on aimsweb Plus auditory vocabulary, and 16 of 61 scored 47 of higher on aimsweb Plus letter word sounds fluency. A total of 10 out of 62 first graders scored proficient on aims web Plus organ reading fluency as measured by end of year standards.
As for second graders at Stanley-Boyd, 11 of 67 students scored 105 of higher on aimsweb Plus oral reading fluency, while 9 of 67 scored 163 or higher on aimsweb Plus reading comprehension. A full 12 of 67 second graders scored 173 or higher on aimsweb Plus vocabulary.
For second grade math, meanwhile, 10 of 67 met benchmarks for the end of year second grade assessment in operations and algebraic thinking, while five of 67 students met end of year benchmark in numbers and operations base 10. Zero of 67 students currently met benchmark for the end of year math assessment.
For third grade reading, seven of 83 students scored 124 or higher on aimsweb Plus oral reading fluency, while 28 of 83 scored 178 or higher on aimsweb Plus reading comprehension. A full 26 of 83 students scored 1984 or higher on aimsweb Plus vocabulary, while five of 83 scored seven or higher on LETRS advanced spelling list. Some 20 of 83 students scored 16 or above on Wonders Phonics.
As for third grade math, 27 of 83 students scored 18 of higher on aimsweb Plus number comparison, while 24 of 83 scored 14 or higher on aimsweb computation fluency. A full 11 of 83 third grade students scored 181 or higher on aims web Plus concepts and applications, while zero of 83 met benchmark for end of year third grade assessments.
Lew explained why some numbers were low in relation to end of year assessment.
“They haven’t taught that yet,” Lew said. “That going to come heavily in this last trimester.” The summary was that staff and students were working hard to get things where they needed to be by year’s end.
“I do have to say our kids are making progress,” Lew said. “We continue to work and find ways if kids are not making progress to help them out as much as we can.”
The next AGR Report will come this sumer.