Petoskey students see higher scores after intervention, district works to maintain options

PETOSKEY — While the Public Schools of Petoskey have been working to bring their students back to pre-pandemic scores, recent test results show their efforts have been working.

For the past year, Director of Teaching and Learning Becky Smith has been working with teachers, aides and tutors to help bring students back up to speed.

"We knew due to COVID that we'd have some struggles in that area for student growth, because we have students coming back from all different experiences during that time and had missed a lot of that intense intervention that they would have gotten in person," Smith said. "So last year, we were very intentional about using our data from our NWEA testing three times a year to really target groups of students for their specific needs."

After fall testing in 2022, the then-second graders found themselves behind the regular curve. The department focused many resources into the second grade classrooms to get them back to where they needed to be. In fall 2022, the students scored in the 41st percentile of students on the reading and language arts section of the NWEA. In fall 2023, as third graders, they scored in the 79th percentile of students throughout the state.

Smith said the students that received the bulk of the help saw great growth over the year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, additional funding was funneling into schools through means like the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding, for example. Smith said Petoskey was able to utilize these funds to make new positions and curriculum purchases, but that many discussions have been held to determine how to maintain the positions even after federal funding dissipates.

"We have put things in place that have worked with this ESSER money, we've just been very intentional about talking through what that looks like and how we can keep that moving. We've already figured out other funding sources to keep our coaches going for at least another two years," Smith said. "So I think that was just so helpful having that, that money is a resource, but it really showed us what we need to have in place to keep seeing the growth that we've been seeing."

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ESSER funding was used to bring in literacy coaches, purchase new curriculum and offer additional professional development days for educators in the school.

"We were really looking for those intervention resources that we could use to target the skills the students were missing, especially coming out of COVID," Smith said.

When it comes to seeing the progress in students, Smith said she's excited to see that the efforts put into the students showed actual progress and work.

"We're just thrilled. It's very exciting when you put something in place and see that it actually makes a difference," Smith said. "And you can see it with our students — just how proud they are, and excited — when they are achieving their goals and being successful. You can see it with our staff. Our staff is enthusiastic and positive, knowing that the hard work that they're putting forth for students is making a difference.

"As a school community, it just keeps everybody feeling very positive and just knowing that what they're doing is making a difference," she added.

While the interventions were put in place using ESSER money, Smith said discussions are being held to keep the different initiatives in place.

"When we see something make a difference like that, we definitely want to make sure that we can continue it to the best of our ability," she said.

With the data from testing, Smith said teachers were able to target specific areas students needed help with, and they continued their interventions into summer school in the district.

Smith said the district is very cognizant of holes in skills following the COVID-19 pandemic and that staffers have been working hard to identify the needs of individual students.

"We've been able to really make a difference and see that that program works, so I think that's huge," Smith said.

During the Oct. 19 school board meeting, Smith presented the testing data to the board, also highlighting where Petoskey falls compared to other similar districts.

While Petoskey is ranked 48th in the state in grades 3-8 M-STEP proficiency, with 55.5 percent of students scoring as proficient or higher, nearby districts like Harbor Springs ranked at 99 with 48.1 percent of students scoring as proficient and Charlevoix scored at 116 with 46 percent proficiency.

While some grades continue to lag behind the state average in scores, other grades are flying past the state standards. Smith said that this year, the district will likely be placing much of their intervention into the first grade class to try to get those students up to speed.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey schools see upward test score trend following interventions