Happy Friday!

Thank you to everyone across our district for the work you continue to do each day for our students. As we move deeper into the spring semester, the instructional focus of our classrooms becomes even more important. This is the time of year when the adjustments teachers make in instruction can have a significant impact on student learning as we move toward the spring ATLAS assessment. One of our goals as a district has always been to avoid simply hoping that learning is happening. Instead, we want to know where our students stand and respond with the best instruction possible.

This week, I would like to share several observations from our Winter ATLAS Interim assessments in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. Interim assessments serve an important purpose. They provide evidence of student learning at this point in the school year and help us determine where additional instructional attention can help students move from approaching proficiency to being proficient. They also allow us to compare our performance with the state average so that we have a clearer understanding of where we stand and what our next steps should be.

Achievement Level Descriptors and Strong Thinking

One of the most important themes that continues to emerge from the interim results is the importance of helping students understand what strong thinking looks like. We have been talking about assessing student performance using Achievement Level Descriptors, or ALDs. These descriptors outline the level of thinking students must demonstrate to reach proficiency. A Level 3 response, which represents proficient performance, generally requires students to explain their reasoning, apply knowledge to unfamiliar situations, support ideas with evidence, and analyze information rather than simply recall it.

During several of our leadership meetings this year, we have watched classroom videos that highlight instructional strategies designed to move students toward this level of thinking. One encouraging practice we have observed is that some of our teachers are explaining the Achievement Level Descriptors directly to their students so they understand the level of response that is expected. When students clearly understand what a strong response looks like, they are far more capable of producing it. They begin to see that success is not simply about arriving at the correct answer, but about demonstrating the reasoning and understanding behind that answer.

This matters for every classroom, not only those in the core academic areas. Whether students are asked to explain a solution in mathematics, support an interpretation in English Language Arts, analyze evidence in science, justify a design choice in a CTE course, or explain a performance decision in the arts, the same principle applies. Students grow when they understand the quality of thinking that is being asked of them.

English Language Arts

The winter interim results in English Language Arts show encouraging progress in several areas of literacy development. In the early grades, our students performed ahead of the state in important foundational measures. Kindergarten posted 44% proficient compared to 32% statewide, while Grade 1 reached 56% proficient compared to 34% statewide, and Grade 2 posted 39% proficient compared to 33% statewide. Grade 3 also remained ahead of the state at 35% proficient compared to 31% statewide. These results suggest that the instructional emphasis placed on foundational literacy skills is continuing to produce positive results for our students.

At the same time, the reports show that students face greater difficulty when standards require them to analyze texts and clearly explain their thinking in writing. Students are generally stronger when asked to demonstrate vocabulary knowledge and direct comprehension, but they experience more difficulty when asked to analyze how authors develop ideas and themes, compare information across texts, support interpretations with textual evidence, and explain their thinking clearly in written form. This pattern becomes especially important in the upper grades, where many students are clustered near proficiency rather than well below it. That tells us the work ahead is not to start over, but to sharpen and strengthen what we are already doing.

This is one of the reasons our district has placed such a strong emphasis on writing across the curriculum. Writing requires students to organize their thoughts, explain their reasoning, and support their ideas with evidence. When students learn to explain their thinking clearly in writing, they also become stronger readers because they must interact more deeply with the text. Our interim results reinforce that point. If we want more students to move from approaching proficiency to being proficient in literacy, we must continue giving them opportunities to write, explain, support, and refine their thinking in every possible setting.

Mathematics

The winter interim mathematics results also provide encouraging evidence of progress. In several grade levels, district performance in foundational mathematics concepts was comparable to or stronger than the state average. Grade 1 mathematics reached 54% proficient compared to 27% statewide, Grade 2 reached 47% compared to 32% statewide, Grade 7 reached 54% compared to 35% statewide, and Grade 8 reached 52% compared to 21% statewide. These results suggest that in several areas, our students are building a stronger understanding of the fundamental structures that support later mathematical reasoning.

However, the reports also show that students experience greater difficulty when mathematics requires them to analyze a situation, determine an appropriate strategy, and explain the reasoning behind their solution. Many of the most challenging problems require students to solve real-world situations that involve multiple steps, careful interpretation, and explanation of why the strategy they chose makes sense. Students tend to perform better when the task requires recall or direct computation, but they face greater difficulty when the task requires strategic thinking, modeling, and explanation.

This type of thinking aligns closely with the expectations described in the Achievement Level Descriptors for proficient performance. In mathematics, a strong response is not only a correct answer. It is an answer supported by reasoning. When students explain the thinking behind their work, draw models, compare solution strategies, or justify how they know their answer is reasonable, they move beyond procedure and begin developing the analytical thinking mathematics is designed to cultivate. That expectation is important not only in a math classroom. It is a way of thinking that supports learning across the district.

Science

Our winter interim science results also provide encouraging evidence of progress across multiple grade levels. District performance generally met or exceeded state averages in several tested grades, showing that students are building a solid foundation in important scientific ideas. Biology proficiency was a terrific 67% compared to the state’s 38%, and 8th-grade Science posted 50% to the state’s 40%. All other tested grades were an average of six percentage points higher, as well. The broad pattern in the science reports suggests that students are developing conceptual understanding in life science, Earth and space science, and scientific systems, and that many are positioned within reach of proficiency as instruction continues.

At the same time, the reports show that students face greater difficulty when questions require them to analyze evidence and explain scientific processes. Students are more successful when identifying concepts and recognizing scientific relationships, but they struggle more when asked to interpret models and diagrams, analyze data from investigations, explain cause-and-effect relationships, and apply scientific understanding to unfamiliar situations. These expectations closely reflect the Achievement Level Descriptors for proficient performance, where students must demonstrate reasoning and analysis rather than simply recalling information.

Science instruction becomes most powerful when students are not simply memorizing facts but are learning to think like scientists. When students examine evidence, interpret findings, explain what they observe, and connect that evidence to larger systems, they are developing the very habits of thinking that science education is designed to promote. This is another place where the classroom videos we have been watching are helpful. They remind us that strong teaching does not only deliver content. Strong teaching makes the level of thinking visible to students.

What the Interim Data Tells Us

When we look across English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science together, a consistent pattern emerges from the winter interim results. Many of our students are very close to reaching proficiency. In many cases, the difference between approaching proficiency and achieving proficiency lies in the ability to explain reasoning, support ideas with evidence, and demonstrate deeper levels of thinking.

That is why the Achievement Level Descriptors matter so much. They help us define for students what a strong response looks like, and they help us align instruction with the actual level of thinking that is expected. This is also where collective efficacy becomes so important. When teachers across all grade levels and content areas work together to help students develop strong explanations, thoughtful writing, careful reasoning, and evidence-based responses, the impact spreads across the entire district.

The progress reflected in these interim results is the result of the work taking place every day in classrooms across Mena Public Schools. I app...