Flint academic team lays out diagnosis of low proficiency, prioritizes curriculum audit and program evaluation

Flint School District leaders presented a district‑level analysis showing persistently low proficiency and uneven growth and outlined a multi‑year plan focused on curriculum alignment, program evaluation and targeted interventions.

Superintendent Jones introduced the academic team and framed the board’s “North Star” as student proficiency. “The North Star is proficiency,” Jones said, urging a focus on both growth and the curricular tools needed to reach grade‑level proficiency.

Consultants and academic leaders described how the district uses both the state M‑STEP (proficiency, taken once annually) and NWEA (interim growth measures taken multiple times a year) to track progress. Tracy Davis, a board consultant, explained the partnership baseline approach: the partnership agreement sets a cumulative target of a 3‑percentage‑point proficiency increase over three years measured against the 2022 benchmark; separate NWEA goals call for school‑level increases of 10 percentage points or a school meeting a 55% growth target.

On strengths and gaps, Dr. Natoya Coleman, the district’s Chief Innovation Officer, and other presenters said math is the district’s most significant challenge, foundational skill gaps are wide in early grades and stronger tier‑1 instruction and interventions are urgently needed. “Math is the district’s most significant challenge,” Dr. Coleman said.

Planned next steps presented to trustees included a curriculum audit and program evaluation tied to adoption cycles (curriculum adopted in 2022–23), district learning walks led by coaches, expanded professional learning communities, targeted interventions such as AVID and a STEM curriculum pilot (Jason Learning at the Brownell Home STEM campus), and benchmarks and progress monitoring to be calendared in January. Presenters said the district aims to identify evaluation tools and implementation capacity in the next four to six weeks.

Board members pressed for measurable evidence. Trustee McIntyre (Vice President) and Trustee McIntyre and others demanded clearer metrics, consistent observation instruments, and progress monitoring between state tests. The academic team said measures will include teacher surveys, classroom observations using established models, district‑wide benchmark assessments and triangulation with state and local data. Presenters noted that some small data cells are suppressed to protect student privacy under FERPA, which explains blank values in some grade‑level tables.

Trustees also raised classroom‑management and staffing issues as constraints on instruction; several members urged the district to document school‑level profiles (staffing, certified teachers, vacancies and programs) and to share interim benchmark data with the board to show traction between NWEA administrations.

Superintendent Jones acknowledged the urgency and committed to bringing board feedback into the implementation work. “We are going to make sure that we’re turning the ship around,” Jones said. The board set follow‑up expectations for data and tools and scheduled additional engagement to refine timelines.