11/12/2024 CACR presentation

At 5pm, just before the start of school board work session on 11/12/2024, the board and Superintendent Elstad received the Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness (CACR) presentation by our director of teaching and learning, Julie Sullivan. Also assisting with the presentation was Ken Griswold, Wendy Eggermont, and Kelly Kruger. The World’s Best Workforce (WBWF) guideline began in 2013 and now has been renamed by the 2024 legislature to CACR. More detailed information can be found on the MN Dept of Education website: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/wbwf/

Four goals of the WBWF will carry over plus one new goal is added to the CACR:

• All children are ready for school.
• All racial and economic achievement gaps between students are closed.
• All students are ready for career and college.
• All students graduate from high school.
• Prepare students to be lifelong learners.

The previous WBWF goal of “all third graders read at grade level” is replaced by “read well every year” in the READ Act.

From the MN Dept of Education website:

Minnesota Statutes 2023, section 120B.11, requires school boards to establish advisory committees (Owatonna has the District Curriculum Advisory Committee.) The advisory committee should:

• Ensure that community members have an opportunity to participate in the strategic planning process.
• Be reflective of the district’s diversity and its schools, and thus include, to the extent possible, teachers, parents/guardians, support staff, students, and other community residents.
• Make recommendations to the school board concerning rigorous academic standards and student achievement goals and measures.

Last year’s WBWF presentation is on the district website, this year’s presentation is not yet available for review which will make these notes a bit confusing, but the link is here for future reference: https://www.isd761.org/district-services/teaching-learning/worlds-best-workforce

I. ALL CHILDREN ARE READY FOR SCHOOL. Fall 2023 measure was 58% with a goal for 5% increase by the fall 2024. Our fall 2024 measure fell short at 56.5%. Our new goal for fall 2025 is for 60%. It is noted that 75-80% of our preschoolers are screened and the team has set a goal for earlier screening to allow for more preschool teaching prior to starting kindergarten.

II. ALL RACIAL AND ECONOMIC ACHIEVEMENT GAPS BETWEEN STUDENTS ARE CLOSED. There are 10 categories of measurement, and the goal was for a 1.5-point reduction in the gap for each category by fall 2024. We had 7 categories that did meet goal and 3 that worsened. It was also noted that white students are the “standard” by which the gaps are measured, however Owatonna’s Asian students outperformed the white students (maybe they should be the standard we aim for since they had the best measures!) For 2025 we have the same goal for a 1.5-point reduction in each gap. The primary focus will be through Culturally Responsive Teaching techniques. A question was raised about the diversity of our staff, and it was noted that our para and education assistant groups have the most diversity for our students. If interested, here is a link to our Achievement and Integration Plan: https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1701956800/owatonnak12mnus/p5ifx4ucmsv9c0i31xbk/CopyofOwatonnaAchievementandIntegration22-251.pdf

III. ALL STUDENTS ARE READY FOR CAREER AND COLLEGE. Since I don’t have the slides to refer to, I can only see the percentages I wrote down at the time. One measure increased from 82.4% to 86.9% while the second measure decreased 58.5% to 54.3%. Fall 2025 goals are 85+% and 58% respectively. I’m sorry I cannot give more details about the specific measures at this time.

IV. ALL STUDENTS GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL. Reporting is only finalized through the 2023 year and our graduation rate is 86.9%. Our district goal is to have an 88% graduation rate with no racial group less than 80%. Our Hispanic/Latino students had the lowest graduation rates. We are working toward meeting both goals.

V. PREPARE STUDENTS TO BE LIFELONG LEARNERS. The district was given no guidelines from the state for this goal, so our team has started with focusing on 4 questions from the Desired Daily Experiences survey. Currently, those 4 questions have a 51% positive response rate, and they have set a goal of 60% for fall 2025.

The presentation was generalized and broad in order to provide much information in a short amount of time. I’m hopeful that the presentation will be available on the district website in the near future. Please contact the school principals, Julie Sullivan, or Superintendent Elstad with any questions.