Superintendent Update: Reading Initiative, Testing and Legal Update

Dear parents and members of the Elizabeth community,

It is hard to believe that we are well into our second semester.  This is often a time that feels anticlimactic after the many holiday festivities have passed.  Our schools are focused on instruction and ensuring students engage in quality learning experiences.  

Reading is Fundamental:  Our district has started to increase its focus on our instructional program in the area of reading.  I find it sad that 40% of students in Colorado achieve proficiency in reading.  While we outperform the state in this area, 45% is nothing to celebrate, especially if your child is among the 55% that aren’t achieving.  So many factors contribute to this challenge and our teachers are working hard each and every day to increase student achievement.  That being said, we must look at our structures that exist and how we can further support our staff in ensuring EVERY student leaves elementary school ready for the challenges at the secondary level.  

While I am not a fan of retention, we cannot continue to move students on each year without achieving competency.  Social promotion also leads to students facing insecurities as they progress onward in school, finding the content areas becoming even more stressful without a solid foundation in reading.  At the elementary and middle school level, students are assessed in reading and math at the beginning, middle and end of the school year using a tool called iReady.  While we are seeing growth, we still have students that remain more than a year behind their peers.  One test is never a stand alone measure, however students who aren’t proficient on iReady also are found not to be proficient on our state assessment test and through many other measures.  

The board and I are discussing how we can ensure that our system is better prepared to ensure the success of students before exiting the elementary level.  Our secondary teachers teach students important content, however, often lack the training in building foundational reading skills.  When we move students on, we set students up for failure.  Research is clear that students not reading at grade level before leaving elementary school have a drastically increased risk of not being successful in their 6-12th grade journey.

Beginning next year, we are likely going to set some benchmarks that students must achieve before moving on from 3rd and 5th grade. We also will set some clear expectations for communicating with parents when students are facing these struggles so that we can further build our partnership in ensuring their success.  With our new dyslexia initiative underway now and expanding next year, we will put into place research based therapeutic remediation to support students who have difficulty breaking the code and gaining the necessary proficiency.  With 1 in 5 students having some impact by dyslexia today, all of our other expectations cannot work without adding the essential tools to support students.

The coming year will bring an increased focus on reading instruction and the closer tracking of students and their proficiency.  We have amazing teachers who wake up every day to do their very best for students.  Working collaboratively, we will make the necessary shifts in our service model to ensure we meet the challenges ahead.  

Yes, math and other subjects are important too, but reading unlocks learning potential for students.  We won’t shy away from monitoring math and other content areas but feel it is time to increase our efforts specifically in reading at the elementary level.  Our board and I will be discussing this effort at upcoming board meetings and with staff in the coming months.  As parents, we encourage you to pay close attention to your child’s reading progress and iReady scores.  While this is only one measure, it is one that often can predict their true performance.

CMAS Testing:  Our students will be engaging in state assessments beginning in April of this year.  It appears that Elizabeth has traditionally seen a large number of parent opt outs which makes this data very unuseful to the district.  While a test is by no means the single benchmark of a student’s knowledge, it is one measure that is helpful to the district in determining how students are performing.  While it clearly is a parent’s right to opt their children out, I want to encourage you to allow your child to have this experience.  There is no need to stress our students out about a test, but simply encourage them to do their best!  Tests will be a part of life whether the student decides to drive someday, or become a professional (doctor, lawyer, teacher).  Students participating in this experience helps prepare them for such future opportunities when opting out may not be an option to achieve their goals.  

Legal Case Update:  As previously shared, the district is currently defending itself from a legal case brought by the ACLU on behalf of a couple of members of our community and the NAACP.  The district has filed its legal response to the two matters.  All of our communication will come through our filings from our legal team.  We have greatly appreciated the outside financial support received to keep the costs of this defense from impacting our district budget at this time.  All of our legal filings will be found on our district website for those interested in following the district’s responses to the allegations and the supporting facts.  

Again, I appreciate the support from our community as we work to make our district even more effective in supporting our students to meet their potential.  As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if I can be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Dan Snowberger

ESD Superintendent