Thompson board steers four student goals toward Oct. 21 vote
The proposed goals pair reading, writing and math benchmarks with a 15% narrowing of test-score gaps for students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, minority students, bilingual learners and students with disabilities. Workforce readiness may be considered later, after…
The Thompson School District board steered staff toward four proposed student outcome goals — literacy, math, equity and graduation — for a vote Oct. 21.
The board briefing recommended no more than three goals, focused on early literacy, math and equity. Director Stu Boyd proposed combining literacy and math into one goal covering grades three, five and eight, with a clarified equity goal second and graduation third. A board member opposed combining literacy and math, saying the students they cover have different needs. Another questioned the three-goal limit, asking “what's the magic of 3?” and saying five goals would not be unmanageable.
The briefing proposes raising third-grade proficiency in combined reading and writing on Colorado Measures of Academic Success tests from 44% in spring 2026 to 64% by spring 2031. Its second math option would raise fifth-grade proficiency from 37.2% to 51% and eighth-grade proficiency from 32.7% to 45% over the next five school years. Staff summarized the board's feedback as favoring that math option and adding high school graduation.
The proposed equity goal would narrow achievement and growth gaps between historically marginalized groups and their peers by 15% on annual state tests. The briefing identifies students eligible for free and reduced lunch, who account for 37.8% of district students, and students with disabilities, who account for 13.2%, among those groups. A staff member said the district would focus on four groups identified in its Bright Starts goal: students eligible for free and reduced lunch, minority students, bilingual learners and students with disabilities. Boyd asked that the goal name all the groups it would cover rather than leave open whether others were included.
A staff member said post-secondary workforce readiness was left out of the written options because the state had not settled its expectations for that area. Graduation rates are important to track but do not, by themselves, show whether students are ready for what comes next, another staff member said. That staff member suggested adding a readiness goal later, once the state clarifies how it will be measured.