11/13/2023 World’s Best Workforce

This week’s update will be divided into 2 posts because we essentially had 2 meetings on Monday. The World’s Best Workforce presentation began at 5pm and was given by Mrs. Julie Sullivan our director of teaching and learning and Mr. Ken Griswold our data and assessment coordinator. This is a summary of that presentation.

As stated on page 3 of the report, the requirements of the World’s Best Workforce include: developing district goals and plan strategies, align the district budget with the goals, hold an annual meeting to share results and gain community input, establish an advisory committee, annual board review and approval, submit a summary to the MN Dept of Education Commissioner, and then post the results on the district website.

Performance Measure 1: All children are ready for school.

• Fall 2022: composite 60% (4 measures 48-65%) of kindergarten students met literacy benchmarks (Fall 2021: composite 51% met literacy benchmarks)
• Goal for Fall 2023: 63% of students to meet literacy benchmarks
• Results: Fall 2023: 58% of kindergarten students met literacy benchmarks
• Goal for Fall 2024: 63% of students will meet benchmarks
• Action steps: focus instruction on phonemic awareness which was the weakest measurement of the composite score, increase screening for children at 3 years old, and continued emphasis on family and community outreach/engagement

Performance Measure 2: All third-graders can read at grade level (this measure was recently removed by the State, likely due to the new READ Act)

• Fall 2022: 47.3% of third-grade students were proficient on the MCA state reading assessment (Fall 2021: 47.2% proficient)
• Goal for Fall 2023: 60% of students proficient
• Results Fall 2023: 42.7% of third-grade students were proficient (Mrs. Sullivan noted that these students were in kindergarten when the pandemic started and were in and out of school for 2 years before finally having a more “normal” school year in second grade, and now just beginning third grade)
• Goal for Fall 2024: no goal is set due to this measure being removed
• Action steps: READ Act targets new professional development and training for staff/teachers, continue Functional Phonics, and a responsive approach to literacy teaching based on multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) which varies depending on the school and the specific behavioral/learning needs of the students at each school

Performance Measure 3: Close achievement gaps among all student groups

• Fall 2022 goal: close the gap in reading and math proficiency rates on MCA tests for all racial/ethnic/economic groups (10 categories) 1.5% by June 2023 (Fall 2021 goal: decrease achievement gaps 3% by June 2022)
• Past measures evaluated 2019 to 2022 in 10 categories show decreased gaps in 3 areas, and increased gaps or no change in 7 areas.
• Recent measures for these 10 categories show decreased gaps in 2 areas and increased gaps in 8 areas.
• Action steps: continue culturally responsive practices and co-teaching, increase enrollment of underrepresented student groups in specialized courses, utilize success coaches to promote home-to-school connections

Performance Measure 4: All students are ready for career and college

• Goal 20222-2023: 85% of graduates have earned credit in courses with college credit-earning potential or have earned a Bilingual Seal by spring 2023.
• 2023 Result: 82.4% (Goal for 2024 continues to be 85%)
• Goal 2022-2023: there will be a 3% increase in grades 10-12 students earning credit in advanced career and technical courses or in internships/mentorships (2022 59.2% of students met goal)
• 2023 Results: -0.7% / 58.5% of students met goal (Goal for 2024 continues to be 3% increase raising the number to 61.5%)
• Action steps: increase access to guidance resources and experiences through COMPASS days, Naviance, and career connections. Plus continue to develop career pathways programming and integrate 21st century skills in all curricula.

Performance Measure 5: All student graduate from high school. These numbers include our online school and the Alternative Learning Center. Due to not having graduation rates for 2023 yet, this measure is only up to date as of 2022.

• Goal for 2022: graduation rate will increase from 87 to 88% with no racial/ethnic group falling below 80% by 2023.
• Results:

All Students	87.6%
Black/African American	82.1%
Hispanic/Latino	70.1%
White	92.3%

• Action steps: increase academic support and opportunities for credit recovery, refine programs for students receiving English Learner services, create individual plans for all students at the ALC, increase student engagement in learning.

Included in the report but not in the presentation is information regarding our district’s Achievement and Integration Plan, teaching and learning framework, curriculum development, and staff development goals. All of this information can be found on the district website.