Throughout the 2024-25 year, the Northeast Metro 916 Literacy Leadership team worked to develop a comprehensive literacy plan for our school district, which focused on meeting the READ Act's requirements and aligning how we serve our unique student populations. The information below is designed to inform families and caregivers about our general plans. However, because each student is unique, we ask you to contact your student's case manager or school principal for more details. You may also contact our Literacy Lead, Elise Byrne, at 651-415-5539 or [email protected].

The READ Act aims to have every Minnesota student reading at or above grade level every year, beginning in kindergarten, and to support multilingual learners and students receiving special education services in achieving their individualized reading goals Minn. Stat. 120B.12 (2023).

District Literacy Goal

By June 30, 2025, racial disparities between students who score as “does not meet” on MCA/MTAS Reading assessments will be eliminated.

In 2023:

• White students (142/221) who scored “does not meet” 64.25% (-31)
• Black/AA students (122/158) who scored “does not meet” 77.22% (-44%)
• Two or More students (32/35) who scored “does not meet” 91.43% (-58)
• Asian students (22/33) who scored “does not meet” 66.67% (-33%)
• Hispanic/Latino students (16/34) who scored “does not meet” 47.06 (-14%)
• American Indian/AN students (1/3) who scored “does not meet” 33% (baseline)
• Native Hawaiian students (0/0) who scored “does not meet” NA

Universal and Dyslexia Screening

Three times per year (fall, winter, and spring), Setting IV 916 schools will screen for students for characteristics of Dyslexia and reading proficiency, fluency, vocabulary, phonics, and comprehension. FastBridge aReader assessments will be used in grades 4-12.

Parent Notification

Parents and caregivers will be notified about student progress during regular progress reporting (approximately every 12 weeks) and through IEP meetings and evaluations. Parents and caregivers may request information about screening data anytime and after each screening. Please contact your student's case manager if you have additional questions. Families will be notified about reading instructional services. Based on screening and other assessments, interventions specific to the need may be provided, with a description of the type and amount of intervention time and the criteria to exit intervention.

Core Reading Instruction and Curricula Grades K-12

Data-Based Decision-Making for Literacy Interventions

MTSS represents a proactive framework centered on collaborative, data-driven problem-solving by teams to enhance the performance of individual students and district-wide results. This involves partnerships with families, schools, and communities and implementing a graduated continuum of evidence-based practices at various levels, including the classroom, school, district, region, and state (Office of Learning Supports, Colorado Department of Education, 2017). According to the Minnesota Department of Education (2023), the MnMTSS, or Minnesota Multi-Tiered System of Supports, serves as a comprehensive and ongoing improvement framework designed to promote favorable social, emotional, behavioral, developmental, and academic outcomes for all students. It offers a range of culturally and linguistically responsive, evidence-based practices through various tiers, operating on the fundamental principle that every student can learn and flourish. Additionally, MnMTSS adopts an anti-bias and socially-just perspective in scrutinizing policies and practices, committed to ensuring fair distribution of resources and opportunities.

Northeast Metro 916 began implementing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support in a single program in the 2014/2015 School Year. As a data-driven community, this work continued to resonate with our staff and was replicated with each special education program until it was established across all of our Special Education Federal Setting IV Programs. While the processes in each program are the same, the content was shaped to uniquely suit the needs of the learners served in each program.

To continue to reflect upon and improve our district practices, 916 collaborated with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI), University of Minnesota, to evaluate the implementation of the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Framework as well as other key strategic work for the district. The results of this work cited the great strengths of data-based decision-making efforts, especially concerning student behavior. Other noted strengths included a solid established system used effectively by staff to inform decision-making, including a belief in the importance and impact of this system from surveyed district staff. MTSS implementation has positively impacted student achievement in many noticeable ways, including math achievement (increased proficiency rates), upward trends in graduation rates, and decreased trends in office discipline referrals (ODRs) (Wood, Richardson, Casey-Wilke, Parr & Olson., 2023).

The report also identified several opportunities for improvement, including:

• District-wide MTSS expectations/non-negotiables established and communicated concerning vision, structure, and process that informs individual schools’ vision, structure, and process
• Focus on consistency of Tier 1 practices across the district in the following areas:
  
  • Ensure that curriculum and instruction are culturally and linguistically responsive, and can be modified for relevance for marginalized populations
  • Differentiate for all learners
  • Adopt a consistent, evidence-based assessment system (i.e., screeners and progress monitoring), especially for academic achievement that:
    
    • Proactively supports student/scholar needs and effectively informs programs and interventions
    • Measures the growth of skills and effectively fades out supports
• Use restorative practices consistently across the district
• Review MTSS structure concerning the academic achievement area of MTSS, particularly for targeted student populations and Tier 2 and 3 interventions:
  
  • Identify/select strategies and evidence-based interventions/curricula that are sensitive to the needs of targeted students.
  • Establish consistent, evidence-based systems across the district.
  • Support staffing, PD, and coaching that impacts the intensive/unique needs of targeted students
• Focus on the needs of students identified as having “at-risk” characteristics through universal screening systems, including those who are marginalized.
• Develop a protocol for students transitioning back into home schools/districts in a more seamless manner
• Attend to and refine paraprofessionals' roles, purpose, and workload

NE Metro 916 defines MTSS as a framework to improve outcomes for all students that organizes current initiatives and district/building-level resources (personnel and programs) to address each student’s academic and behavioral needs, using research-based instruction and interventions that vary in intensity. An MTSS framework includes:

• screening of all students using valid and reliable measures,
• tiers of instruction that vary in intensity,
• collaborative teams that review data, problem-solve, and organize instruction,
• frequent progress monitoring using valid and reliable measures to determine the impact of evidence-based interventions and
• a system to ensure that instruction, including interventions, is evidence-based and implemented with fidelity.

Northeast Metro Intermediate School District 916 is committed to serving students through evidence-based strategies and data-based decisions via Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Each program must update and maintain its MTSS and share a copy of its up-to-date program manual with the Director of Special Education (title role currently carried by Asst. Superintendent).

916 Literacy Professional Development Plan

The Literacy Leadership Team selected CORE OL&LA training for staff. The tables below reflect the groups, sites, and timelines for structured literacy training. Data collection will primarily occur through Fastbridge assessments. However, generalized program-specific data may also be used. The district literacy leadership team will review assessment data three times a year following assessment windows. This data will inform the learning needs of our staff for continued professional development and instruction. It will also help us determine what equity gaps exist.

Data Collection:

At the district level:  Fastbridge and other assessment data (e.g., MTAS, ACCESS, etc.) will inform staff's professional learning needs and identify equity gaps within the district.

At the Site Level:  Using Fastbridge data, site leadership teams will utilize data to monitor learning progress, identify staff professional learning needs, and identify equity gaps within the school and programs.

At the Staff/Classroom Level:  Using Fastbridge data, related classroom instructors will utilize data to monitor learning progress, identify professional learning needs, instructional moves, and resources needed, and identify equity gaps within the classroom. Data will also be used to inform PLC learning objectives. Individual Action Forms and Goal Setting are also part of the licensed staff evaluation process.

Action Planning for Continuous Improvement

Through the district literacy leadership team and the leadership of our district literacy lead teacher, we will continue to provide guidance using Fastbridge assessment data after each screening period, as well as curriculum implementation, professional development, and site-specific implementation. Additionally, we will train staff to become OL&LA Facilitators to provide ongoing, local support for training. The district literacy leadership team will establish district goals based on site-specific data and monitor progress toward our goals.

Questions & Feedback?

We value your questions, comments, and feedback!

• Please contact your school or case manager for questions specific to your student.
• For questions or feedback on our district plan, please contact Elise Byrne at [email protected]