The district’s assessment and curriculum director presented South Dakota summative assessment results, highlighting notable gains and explaining an incoming change in statewide testing for juniors.

The director reported sharp gains in science proficiency—an approximately 17 percentage-point increase at eighth grade and an 11.4 percentage-point increase at 11th grade—and steady gains in 3rd-grade math over four years, with district third-grade proficiency approaching about 75% in the prior year. She credited stronger primary instruction and phonics work at the elementary level for improving early-grade outcomes.

She also explained a statewide policy change: beginning with the class of 2027, juniors will take the ACT in place of the South Dakota summative assessment; the department of education will roster and cover the cost of the ACT and allow students to send scores to up to four colleges. The district has been preparing through online preACT practice and plans to split administration over two days to reduce testing fatigue.

Board members asked about curriculum timing and new math standards; the director said the district will evaluate and select a new math curriculum for implementation around 2027 and will continue to use interim MAP data to track progress.

The board received the report; no vote was required. Administrators said assessment results feed ongoing curriculum reviews, PLC work and next-cycle instructional purchases and that they will continue to share trend and disaggregated data with the board.

Next steps: district teams will continue curriculum evaluation, prepare for ACT administration logistics for juniors beginning in the 2026–27 school year, and return with more detailed analyses as needed.