July 25th Board Meeting -- Reading Room Study Results (Preliminary, Part 1)

In the Superintendent's Report section of the meeting, Dr. Krause presented some preliminary results from the study of test scores within the reading group sections. Scores were looked at both in aggregate, and within groups. Also looked at was movement from one reading group to another relative to test scores.

The conversation was very fast, and there were slides shown at the presentation that were not in my visitor packet, so I won't pretend that this is in any way a complete journal of the discussion and data that took place. For more on this, I will advise you to read the minutes from the meeting, which should be published on the District 3 website on or around Tuesday, Aug. 23. What I will do is try to capture some of the discussion that took place. And what a discussion it was!

The Board has gotten some criticism over the years for speaking and acting in lockstep, and some of this criticism is well-deserved. Though I have seen some active discussions in my time attending Board meetings, these are few and far-between, and there are many times when Board Members will echo each other before casting their unanimous votes.

This was *not* one of those discussions. It was frenetic at times; there were differences of opinion, challenges, ideas, reflection; it was open, and above all, the whole discussion came off as an honest assessment of where we are as a school district and what still needs to be done; what has worked and what hasn't. Assumptions and points-of-view were challenged, but the discussion was always positive and focused where it needed to be; on the students. It was, by far, the best discussion I have yet seen at a Board Meeting.

I will try to capture some of the points made in the discussion as they went by. Look at the minutes to see what was said faster than I can write.

Dr. Krause explained that when Kindergarteners enter the 2nd semester, their reading level is assessed one-on-one. They then go into the Diagnostic Reading Center in small groups. A year later, they are tested again one-on-one. The same tests are used to measure progress. She explained that these tests are not administered in groups, like other tests like the Iowa tests are.

In the data she presented, she said that 12 students tested below average.

Board Member Doris Sadik asked if any of the students do any of this kind of testing before entering the Diagnostic Reading Center. Dr. Krause replied no.

Board Member Steve Knar asked if underachieving students' parents are notified of their child's status via report cards. Dr. Krause responded that report cards give an assessment of what needs to be done.

Teacher Beth Diller, who has been working in the Diagnostic Reading Center, said that they follow a scripted program with small groups. She said that small groups can give the teachers a better idea of progress made and who needs additional help.

Board Member Doris Sadik asked if parents are notified about what happens in the Diagnostic Reading Center. At the annual Open House, is it addressed by the Kindergarten teachers? Dr. Krause said that the center may be addressed by First Grade teachers at the Open House, but there is no script for them to follow as to how to present it. Sadik followed up, saying that she felt if more parents knew about the center and all it does, they might support it and work with it more.

Dr. Krause went on to say that, with all-day Kindergarten and the Diagnostic Reading Center, students are immersed in Reading. She added that some students aren't reading yet, but they are getting the skills.

Board Member Bob Nunamaker wondered if the district was really bad with Reading before all-day Kindergarten and the Diagnostic Reading Center. Dr. Krause responded that the district wasn't really measuring it. Now that these programs are in place, the expectations have ramped up. District 3 needs to look at results over time, and look at longitudinal results. Should the district be concerned about one student at the lowest level? Yes.

Dr. Krause continued, saying that the results show all students, including students in special education. The expectation is that students should be reading in Kindergarten. This is not like when Kindergarten students were in class 2.5 hours a day.

The Board looked at results that followed a class through elementary grades. Board Member Tom Mollet asked if there were 13 students in the study that were a concern while in the 1st Grade. Dr. Krause responded that we don't know if the 13 students in the lower level of 1st Grade Reading are the same as those with lower scores in Kindergarten.

Dr. Krause added that she looked at the Reading score data with Dr. Mahaffy, and that they met one afternoon with Tim Kassel to address his concerns, and see if they were looking at the data in every way they could. She said they studied how one class does from year to year. They didn't focus on just 2nd Grade or just 3rd Grade. They also added criteria to the data, so that they were looking at students who had been in Algonquin Road School since Kindergarten, and that special education students were excluded from the study.

There's still more to this story, and I'm going to continue it on another post......