Moore Receives National Recognition for Exceptional Reading Growth

Two Franklin Special School District schools have been designated as 2024 Super Stretch Schools for demonstrating remarkable reading growth. Franklin Elementary and Moore Elementary both received this designation over the summer based on i-Ready diagnostic data from the 2023–2024 school year, which showed that students attained notable reading growth, called “Stretch Growth,” during the year.

“i-Ready Super Stretch Schools are schools with more than 200 enrolled students who had 55% or more of their students meet their Stretch Growth targets (Franklin Elementary and Moore Elementary achieved 56% Stretch Growth target),” according to Laura Hart, Ed.D., Partner Success Manager at Curriculum Associates, the company that developed and owns the i-Ready platform. “That means that over half of the students at those schools made considerably more growth than their peers at other schools nationwide, which eventually will translate into improved student outcomes over time.”

"We are elated for both Moore Elementary and Franklin Elementary,” said Associate Director of Schools for Teaching and Learning Mary Decker, Ed.D. “Our district has seen the powerful impact of i-Ready, an example of the high-quality instructional materials that are the standard in Franklin Special, on student learning. It is no coincidence that these super stretch schools see similarly high TCAP English language arts scores. The closure of achievement gaps is possible, and these schools have demonstrated how to accomplish it.”

Meeting Stretch Growth targets places students who are below grade level on a path toward attaining on-grade level proficiency. For students who are already on grade level, it places them on a trajectory to achieve advanced proficiency levels. Put another way: meeting a Stretch Growth target means the student has made considerably more than one year of academic progress, allowing a below-level student to begin to close academic gaps over time OR allowing a student already on grade level to accelerate their learning. “Stretch Growth is an ambitious but attainable goal for student growth; only 25-35% of students nationwide meet i-Ready Stretch Growth targets each year,” Hart explained.

What is i-Ready?

i-Ready is a digital partner used by FSSD that combines assessment and individualized online instruction to help teachers understand student needs and track their progress. “After students take a baseline screening at the beginning of the year, they receive two growth targets: a typical growth target (representing about one year of academic progress) and a stretch growth target (representing substantially more than one year of academic progress),” Hart said.

In the FSSD, students in grades K-8 use the online platform for reading (grades 2-8) and math (K-8). The assessment is adaptive, meaning it matches the difficulty of questions to each student's ability. It starts each student at a difficulty level based on their grade level. When a student gets answers right, the questions get harder; if a student selects incorrect answers, the questions get easier. The program provides valid and reliable growth data, helping teachers track both yearly and long-term student progress. It does not replace daily instruction or curriculum.

Growth Goals

i-Ready assigns differentiated growth goals to each student based on their grade level and placement level as determined by the initial Math and Reading Diagnostics administered at the beginning of the school year.

• Typical growth is the average growth students on the same grade and placement level are expected to make in a school year.
• Stretch Growth is a more ambitious growth target that aims to move students closer to (or beyond) proficiency faster.