PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The district's 2023-2024 improvement plan is focused on instruction with a goal of widespread literacy and reading comprehension.

 

"We all agreed that literacy had to be our focus," Superintendent Joseph Curtis said.

 

"That students not only being able to read fluently but to be able to comprehend and write about their understanding of the text that they read is an incredibly important not only skill that we want our students to have in school but incredibly essential set of skills for life."

 

On Wednesday, the School Committee accepted the plan.

 

By the end of the school year, the goal is to have at least 70 percent of all students in each school show typical or greater growth as measured by FastBridge end-of-year literacy benchmark assessments, at least 70 percent of Grade 3 students across the district reading at grade level or greater, and an increase of at least 10 percent of Grade 6 and 9 students reading at grade level or greater compared to the beginning of the year assessments.

 

Curtis explained that, differing by grade level, just over half of the district can read fluently.  He said this is not a Pittsfield issue and is a problem across the state and county.

 

"It's a national priority for a number of reasons so we wanted to set measurable goals for one year," he said. "From being a principal of a school, when I came to (Morningside Community School,) 40 percent of students could read fluently, 40 percent, and rising that level in one year is incredibly difficult. Overall, it took us five years to reach a little more than 80 percent of students reading fluently."

 

The vision is to create a supportive, equitable, and challenging learning environment where all students experience joy in learning while becoming intellectually, emotionally, and socially ready to succeed through graduation and beyond.

 

Core values include excellence in teaching, embracing human uniqueness, joy in learning, educational equity, a sense of belonging, and academic excellence.

 

"This year's district improvement plan revolves around a singular focus, emphasizing the empowerment of educators in the skillful implementation of evidence-based reading practices," it reads.

 

"This strategic endeavor aims to enable all students to read at grade level and comprehend the text effectively. By implementing these research-backed practices and actively engaging students with appropriate texts, we are dedicated to nurturing literate, inquisitive, and successful individuals."

 

For elementary schools, the plan focuses on reinforcing essential components of the literacy block, encompassing phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, writing, background knowledge, and shared text. At the secondary level, it introduces "The Reading Comprehension Blueprint" textbook that emphasizes the integration of background knowledge, explicit vocabulary instruction, recognizing text structure, fostering the ability to make inferences, and enhancing sentence comprehension.

 

District-wide collaboration and targeted professional development are prioritized in the plan.  A teaching and learning committee will be formed to foster collaboration and align reading standards, professional development modules, and effective instructional practices.

 

Data-driven decision-making, the implementation of a district-wide data review protocol, and continuous monitoring of instruction are also called for in the plan for equity in student learning experiences and to build partnerships with families.

 

"I am thrilled that literacy is a focus," Mayor Linda Tyer said.

 

She asked Curtis if, from his years of experience in education, he sees a common thread that connects students' struggles with reading.

 

He said that there are several factors but one is a lack of available books.

 

"So many of our children even at a young age, they increasingly rely on technology whether it's video watching or text messaging and now even the text messaging predicts what it thinks you would like to say so that ability to even think about articulating what you actually want to say is being decreased," Curtis explained.

 

"I also think that there's a great deal to be said that our society grows incredibly busy and the time that used to exist for families, no matter what the makeup of a family is, as you know I'm a single dad, to devote to just engaging in good reading, going to the library, taking out books of interest from the library, spending time before bed reading them. I think as far as research, certainly, there's much to be had in relation to not only single-family households but income and such but I think that it's multifaceted."

 

He added that more than ever children are coming to school unaware of the alphabet and Tyer said that he had just made a case for universal pre-kindergarten.

 

School committee member Sara Hathaway appreciated the focus and said that every teacher is haunted by students who slip through the cracks from time to time.

 

Curtis said that this district improvement plan looks very different in a sense from plans in the past.

 

The administration began to develop the instruction priority in the spring after participating in an experience led by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that asked what would have the most impact on students.

 

"Reading fluently is being able to look at a sentence and not see the individual words, that you see phrases and you see the sentence as a whole and that allows you to comprehend what that sentence said," Curtis explained, adding that when a person has to stop and sound out every word they are bound to lose track of the content.