Literacy Professional Learning
Mahtomedi has been engaging in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) professional learning even before the State published the approved professional learning experiences. Every preschool teacher, k-5 teacher, k-12 special education teacher, intervention teacher, and administrator who works in the area of literacy will use this professional development to enhance their understanding of how a brain learns to read and the instructional practices that support all children to become proficient readers.  

Literacy Assessment Tools
We will continue to use our FastBridge assessment tools because they are on the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) “approved” list. This year, we are enhancing communication with parents of students who are not yet reaching grade-level benchmarks.  

Literacy Instructional Resources
Wit and Wisdom is a curricular resource that will be new to us this school year in grades K-5. Wit & Wisdom is one of five literacy curricula designated as “highly aligned” to the Science of Reading by the Minnesota Department of Education and the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI). Wit and Wisdom helps educators deliver literacy and writing instruction using topics connected to science, social studies, and art. Over the summer, our elementary teachers engaged in the first of many trainings supporting the use of these new instructional resources. 

College and Career Readiness Professional Development
Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) uses high-quality professional learning experiences to help teachers refine their practices that support student writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading so that they have the skills to be successful during and beyond their secondary school experience.  Every teacher in our middle and high school has engaged in AVID professional learning - some have attended “Summer Institute” - a three-day content-specific learning experience over the summer while others have participated in several colleague-delivered learning experiences designed by the AVID organization. In addition to implementing AVID in our secondary schools, this year, we will share a newly developed Portrait of a Graduate that spells out what skills, competencies, and dispositions our students need to be globally positioned for success.

All students in Minnesota public and charter schools take the MCAs. Reading and mathematics tests are administered in grades 3 – 8 and high school (students in grade 10 take the Reading MCA, and students in grade 11 take the Mathematics MCA). The Science MCA is administered to students in grades 5 and 8 and in the high school grade in which they take a life science or biology course.  Reading and Math MCA scores are considered “accountability” tests.  Science is not considered an “accountability” assessment.

The MCAs are based on the Minnesota Academic Standards, which articulate what students in a particular grade should know and be able to do. The purpose of the MCA tests is to measure the health of a system.  When we look at our data, the MCAs help us to understand how well we have aligned our lessons (day-to-day) to the standards and how well aligned are the resources we use to help us to deliver instruction in the areas of reading, math, and science. 

Our school leadership teams have reviewed our preliminary data and have established continuous improvement measures for the 2024-25 school year. Families of children who took the MCAs in the spring of 2024 will receive an Individual Student Report (ISR) this fall, and we will provide additional information, including science data, at that time. We recognize the value of continuous improvement to ensure students have a rigorous and relevant school experience and commit to ensuring the highest level of student success for all of the children in our school district. 

As we begin the school year, we will gather additional data to inform our day-to-day practices that will prepare all Mahtomedi students with a meaningful and rigorous education and the future-ready skills they need to be successful.