Thursday, Oct. 16, the Carroll County School District Board of Education held their monthly meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. Much business was covered over the approximately 45-minute duration of the meeting. The highlights of the meeting are as follows.
The first major topic of discussion during this meeting was regarding the District’s Accountability for the 2025 Year. For this matter, the Board was addressed by Sara Johnson, the district’s Test Coordinator, who presented the Board with the district’s progress. She presented the Board members with data tables showing students overall performance in several curricular areas. According to Coordinator Johnson, the district’s overall rating based on the 2024/25 school year’s test scores dropped from a previous B rating to a C rating. The overall district score drop was not significant as the current rating is only 13 points from the previously accomplished B rating.
In addition to overall district rating, Johnson also went over benchmark testing scores for the elementary school and high school with the Board members. Johnson explained that on the high school level the district earned a C rating for their test scores. On the 9-12 level the high school showed significant growth in Algebra 1 and English 2 test scores. However, on the 7-8 grade level, the high school fell in rating on many subjects across the Board. As for the elementary school, Coordinator Johnson explained that there was a significant drop in rating to a D rating, merely four points from an F rating. She explained that on the elementary level, there appeared to be a drop in scores across the board as well, affecting many subjects. Following her presentation of the data, Coordinator Johnson answered any questions or concerns from Board members.
Moving on to the next major topic of business, the board addressed the request for IXL Learning online curriculum support as a supplemental resource for students. Test Coordinator Johnson explained that the resource has been previously used last year at the high school level to help monitor student’s progress in their studies. She stated that she believed the implementation of it on the elementary level would be beneficial to the district as well, as it would allow for the monitoring of the younger students’ progress. She explained that as a contract with a previous supplemental program came up for renewal at the end of last school year, she began looking into alternative supplemental programs to replace the current contract.
“We looked into IXL, since the high school saw a lot of growth with it. So, we are asking to purchase it for both schools to use. At the elementary school they’ll use it in their classrooms, but they also have a computer lab time where they’ll be able to go in [and use it], they can use it at home, It’s just a supplemental resource,” Johnson stated.
The main concern of the Board regarding the purchase of this program was whether the program would help boost the students’ performance in grades.
“With all of these programs that we keep approving, it seems like we would have a faster success rate than what it is,” District 3 Board Member William Downs stated regarding the purchase.
“Is there a way we can have an outline of all our learning management platforms, [so] that we can have it at a glance, so that we can see what we’re doing? I know we’re constantly approving different platforms for education over these [past] three to five years and we have put a lot of money into that - And if it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do as far as elevating our children - our students, or giving our teachers more implementation as far as their learning style - Then we may have to go to something else, if this is not really gonna help our students, our teachers, or our district - [have] a better success rate,” Board President Stella Washington Bell explained the Board’s apprehension.
At this point Test Coordinator Johnson explained that in the past, the district has discontinued the use of supplemental programs which did not prove to be effective in boosting students’ grades and success rates. She further explained that in the past, they have taken teacher and student feedback into account when deciding whether to renew the contracts for these programs or not, to ensure that the programs are working for the students and teachers who are utilizing them in their classrooms. She stated that currently, the district does not have a supplemental program for this specific selection of students that helps with the curriculum the way this IXL program does. Jones clarified that the program can be used anywhere on any device, from a smart phone or tablet to a laptop. She also stated that teachers can create class specific assignments for students to complete within the program.
“Can it identify which students are failing in what [curricula]? So that we can see the area that we need to put more funding to?” Board member Washington Bell questioned.
“Yes. They’ll have a grade level diagnostic that they take, that just takes ten or fifteen minutes - they can complete it in their classes, and then it will put them on a path,” Johnson answered.
She went on to explain that if a student is assessed to struggle in a specific subject based on this diagnostic, then as soon as they log into the program, the program will begin gearing the curriculum towards the student’s low performing topics. This allows for the student to get more practice in the areas they struggle with. Johnson also explained that these programs would allow for a diagnostic report to be printed based on the student body’s performance. She offered to create a spreadsheet of the district's current programs, what they’re used for, and what grade level they are geared towards, to give to the Board at the next meeting. Ultimately the Board approved the purchase of the IXL Learning supplemental program on a motion from District 2 Board Member Teresa Vanlandingham and seconded by District 1 Board Member DeLoach with all in favor.
