Among the public is a parent of an Adelante Schools scholar attending the meeting. No public comment was received.

E. Rangel provided Literacy Update to the board. Summarized are the following key remarks:

• Literacy levels for grade level students are a concern across the US.
• "Science of Reading" is a research-based best practices and strategies to teach students how to read. At Adelante Schools this has been a part of the instructional methodology since its inception.
• Relay Graduate School of Education ("Relay/GSE") visited the school and has celebrated Adelante Schools on the application of this methodology in its instructional practices.

K. Kainrath expressed appreciation to the school leaders for the work.

J. Habayeb shared that the draft audit for FY23 has been received from accounting partners. There were no findings in the report. Finalized report will be shared in upcoming board meeting. 

M. Meer asked about the "In-kind" services noted in the financial reports. J. Habayeb explained these are the IPS services in kind (i.e., building, etc.).

E. Rangel and M. Rooney shared academic excellence updates through DIBELS and ClearSight Assessments for beginning ("BOY") and middle of year ("MOY") markers. These assessments are completed three times a year and Adelante completed the second round recently.

• DIBELS - Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Assessment for K-3) - Overview led by E. Rangel:
  • About Assessment: Short-timed one-on-one reading assessment. Assessment is predictive of reading comprehension when proficiency in early literacy skills is shown.
  • Results of MOY assessment:
    • Presented data on the % of students at- or above-benchmark in the BOY and MOY assessments:
      • K 10% to 49%
      • 1st Grade 28% to 18%
      • 2nd Grade 21% to 32%
      • 3rd Grade 44% to 65%
    • Presented data on subgroups. Data suggests the following:
      • Proficiency growth in black and multi-ethnic students has outgrown the national averages. 
      • Hispanic and female subgroup growth is stagnant and/or has trailed back.
      • Multilingual learner proficiency has grown. 
      • ACT (SpEd) growth has been stagnant.
    • Presented data based on years at Adelante Schools. Data suggests that the proficiency of students improved year-to-year.
  • Actions taken:
    • UFLI intervention program with weekly practice clinics and data meetings
    • Teachers started attending professional learning as of December '23.
    • Weekly or bi-weekly assessment checkpoints are being performed for every student who is not yet proficient.
    • 1st and 2nd grades have engaged in unit re-teaches to close gaps from earlier data.
  • M. Meer asked about how the data compares to previous years? 
    • E. Rangel has shared that there has been improvement from the previous year.
  • M. Staten asked whether the 22% of multilingual children's enrollment are local? 
    • E. Rangel stated that the enrollment is mostly local.
  • R. Scott asked whether there is any data regarding the experience of K students having attended Pre-K? 
    • J. Habayeb shared that approximately 18% of current year K students had a Pre-K educational experience.
  • R. Scott asked whether there are any underlying reasons for the lagging female improvements? 
    • E. Rangel acknowledged that this data suggests inverse results compared to the national trend. There is currently no data or researched reason to explain the difference. Per observations and narratives, the older grade levels of the female subgroup may be struggling with pacing. School leadership continues to review this to understand the data and underlying reasons in more depth. 
• ClearSight (3rd-8th Grade) - Overview led by M. Rooney:
  • About assessment: assessment is the same vendor as State assessment (ILEARN), computer based, adaptive assessment taken three times a year (Aug - Nov - March).
  • Goals in understanding and interpreting results: 
    • For MOY results we focus on growth between BOY and MOY.
    • End of Year ("EOY") is about proficiency.
  • Results of MOY Assessments (Data Summary):
    • Previous performance of assessments suggest a 5-7% better performance in ILEARN compared to ClearSight assessment.
    • BOY to MOY Comparison Data: 
      • Presented overall data summary.
      • Presented data on subgroups for ELA and Math.
      • Presented data on growth of proficiency in ELA and Math of students.
        • The data suggests that 3rd and 8th grade students have had substantial proficiency growth levels in math.
        • The data shows stagnant improvements between BOY and EOY in other levels ELA/Math. 
      • Presented data based on years at Adelante Schools. 
        • Data suggests improvement in math.
        • Data is stagnant on ELA proficiency.
    • Summary of Assessment and Data Interpretation:
      • The data suggests growth of 3rd and 8th ELA and Math
      • The data suggests that the organization is effectively bridging the "Achievement Gap" between black and white students in Math.
    • Actions Taken:
      • Instructional calendar has been restructured to ensure all grade level content is taught by EOY assessment date.
      • Academic team has set clear goals with students and developed ways to recognize scholars for achieving their MOY growth goals.
      • Academic team collects data regularly (on a weekly and daily basis).
  • N. Frech asked whether it is known why the MOY proficiency for scholars who have been 3 years at Adelante is substantially lower.
    • M. Rooney provided insight that the low proficiency percentage is strongly skewed by the low number of data points.  
  • K. Kainrath asked about the ongoing trend between year to year.
    • M. Rooney outlined that the data suggests stagnant results between Nov '23 and Nov '22. However, the data on proficiency remains below the levels achieved 2 years ago (Nov '21).
  • K. Kainrath asked: what actions plans are we adjusting and what has been working or what hasn't?
    • M. Rooney shared that MOY proficiency levels are not accurate indicators of overall performance due to the assessment testing scholars on the whole year's worth of didactic material. It would be more proper to review this again during EOY results. 
    • M. Rooney shared concerns regarding staffing. With the increased students enrolling in the school, the instructional staff has had limited ability to deliver the curriculum in the most effective manner, compounded by the need to provide substitute teachers rather than being able to acquire full-time permanent staff.
    • N. Frech requested an overview of talent acquisition efforts from ED at the next board meeting to have a better understanding of current efforts and standard procedures to acquire talent.
    • K. Kainrath asked: how can the board help? M. Rooney reiterated the importance of talent acquisition.
    • B. Burcope asks to be provided further insight as to the mechanism for incentivizing scholars and recognizing scholars for their proficiency, growth and attainment of goals as previously mentioned by M. Rooney.
      • M. Rooney outlined that the school has established an honors cohort for the first time. The academic team hopes that this action will lead to higher proficiency through increased enrollment stability of the cohort.
    • M. Meer has asked about how the school decides upon content changes and tailoring instructional content?
      • M. Rooney shared that the academic team has observed increased proficiency of math in scholars who complete the digital lessons in a timely manner. The school is focusing on ensuring that scholars are on pace on the digital components.
• K. Kainrath requests the Academic committee to provide updates on a monthly basis on the Board Meetings.

Discussion Ended.

• Article/Education Reflection on awareness of affinity bias and unconscious bias. Article discussed: "Explaining Affinity Bias: Preferring People Like Us" 
  • R. Scott mentioned that we should look at increasing representation of the community and the students we serve through board composition strategic planning. Board concurs.
• B. Burcope encourages board members to self-assess through the "Circle of Trust" excersice. 
• Education Component Schedule:
  • Finance Committee to provide education component in March.
  • Academic Committee to provide education component in April.
  • Governance Committee to provide education component in June.
• OEI Recruitment event in scheduled for March 6th. Board members who wish to participate in the event to let B. Burcope know.
• Reviewed Board Goals.

E. Rangel shared that a request for an amendment has been received from IPS yesterday. This request will be distributed to all board members for review and discussion during next month's board meeting.