Mitchell School District K-12

2021-22 District Goals

I. Fully Implement the South Dakota Next Generation Accountability Model

A. Increase the percentage of highly qualified instructors to 100%, as in
the past.
Goal Unmet. As with districts across the country and state, we experienced teacher shortages at the start of the 21-22
school year. As a result, we were sometimes faced with the decision to hire people not yet fully certified—lacking an
endorsement, holding alternative certification, etc.—or hiring people who were fully certified but whose promise for
excellent instruction in the classroom was poor. We made the decision to hire the former. This has led to solid people in our
classrooms but a temporary inability to meet HQ for all teachers. We are working toward all teachers again being highly
qualified and hope to have that accomplished by the fall of 2022. The percentage of our teachers who were highly
qualified in 21-22 was 98%.
B. Publish State-Generated Reports on Mitchell’s Status on the Next Generation Accountability Model in all
Required Venues

Goal Met. All reporting requirements of the NGA model were met this year.

II. Meet Additional Student Achievement Goals:

A. Mitchell High School ACT scores will continue to exceed state and national averages. Report the percentage
of students taking the ACT test at least once by the December break of their senior year or according to some
other comparable metric.

Goal Met. ACT scores have seen a variability the last three years at the local, state, and national levels not normally
experienced with this standardized, college acceptance test. Nevertheless, Mitchell High School scores remained well
above both state and national averages in 21-22.
B. All schools will annually participate in student achievement data retreats. These retreats will include reviews of
student achievement data (Smarter Balanced Assessment) as well as other metrics included in the Next
Generation Accountability Model.

Goal Met: Data retreats were held during pre-service meetings and have continued, especially in areas under curriculum
review, as the school year has progressed.
C. Through the use of ongoing assessment, including STARS and ALEKS 3-8 and SBA off-year assessments 9, 10, 12,
all schools will produce student assessment data to better inform instruction and provide quantifiable,
continuous (approaching real-time) feedback on student achievement progress.

Goal in Progress: The Mitchell School District continues to provide assessments which produce formative data, the kind
needed for classroom teachers to inform their ongoing instruction. The curriculum and professional development office of
the District continue to provide training in the use of the formative data to assist classroom teachers in determining student
mastery in the subjects of ELA and mathematics and, thereby, instructional content going forward. A book study on
formative assessment was conducted during the summer of 2022.

III. Develop and implement a district-wide professional development plan.

Goal Attained. The Mitchell School District’s professional development director, Mrs. Sherri Becker, and PD Committee drew
up a plan for staff development for the 21-22 school year, initiating its implementation during summer coursework and pre-
service training. Additional training continued during the school year including the offering of red apple classes and
awareness of student social-emotional learning and needs.

IV. Update and implement a 5-year facilities plan, including projected expenditures for capital outlay in the areas of
textbooks, transportation, buildings and grounds, extracurricular needs, building-level needs, and technology.
Initiate the design phase of the MHS construction project.
Goal Attained. A capital outlay plan was again drawn up and implemented for the 21-22 school year. Its provisions were
included in the district capital outlay budget adopted by the School Board during the K-12 budget process, in the spring
and summer. A few items had to be transferred over to the 22-23 school year due to an inability to secure equipment and
materials as a result of supply-chain issues. As part of that 5-year facilities plan, in order to provide resources for the
construction of a new Mitchell High School, grow the fund balance of the capital outlay fund to:
1. $3,500,000 by June 30, 2022*
2. $4,500,000 by June 30, 2023
3. $5,500,000 by June 30, 2024
4. $6,500,000 by June 30, 2025
*As capital outlay dollars are expended for the MHS project, those expenditures will be counted toward this goal’s
attainment.

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Goal Exceeded: The goal was to have $3.5 million by June 30, 2022. The actual balance on that date was $6,634,010.

V. Technology:
A. Ensure that the technology considerations are fully included in the design work for the new Mitchell High
School.

Goal Met. Mr. Levi Hohn, Technology Director, has had a seat at the table from the start of the design process and will
continue to do throughout the project, from initial design to construction punch list. Mr. Hohn, it should be noted, has also
been communicating with technology directors from other districts, in particular those which recently completed a
construction project, in order to get ideas and caveats regarding technology and new educational facilities.
B. Evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of establishing an app on pre-existing social media (e.g.
Facebook, twitter, etc.)
Goal Met. After several inquiries from district extracurricular activity sponsors, teachers, and administrators, technology
director Levi Hohn conducted a review of such applications, settling on Apptegy. Additionally, he spoke with tech directors
from several other SD districts which use the app and received favorable reviews. The administrative team approved this
addition to our social media presence and Apptegy for our district app. Relevant training was provided in May/June of
2022 and the new app was fully implemented as of July 1, 2022.
C. Implement the Technology Department Rules of Thumb, emerging from The Phoenix Project book study and
subsequent discussions.

Goal Attained. Since reviewing this book in the 2019-20 school year and adopting a set of rules of thumbs as a result, Mr.
Hohn has consistently abided by them. Other district constituents (administrators, technicians, teachers, etc.), though
significantly tardier to the process, have now largely accepted and abided by these rules of thumb as necessary to a high-
functioning technology department.
D. Enhance elementary school technology infrastructure through enhancements to public address systems,
access points, and network switches.

Goal Attained: The public address system at Mitchell Middle School has now been entirely replaced and is functioning well,
better than the former system even at its best. Replacement of access points and network switches throughout the district
has now been completed.

VI. Lunch Program Goals:

A. Maintain student participation rates in the National School Lunch Program at or above 2020-21 levels, in
both breakfast and lunch.
Goal Exceeded: Food Service Direct Leann Carmody and her staff do a great job finding ways to boost student
participation. Compared to the previous year, the 21-22 school year saw large increases in breakfast participation rates,
jumping from 24% to 34%. Lunch participation rates increased from 72% to 74%. (Lunch participation is traditionally held
down by open campus for grades 10-12 during the lunch period.)
B. Maintain food service fund equal to three-month’s expenditures.

Goal Exceeded. Due to innovations and improvements in our program, resulting from staff and leadership decisions, as well
as the federal decision again last year to offer all student meals at no costs to parents, the food service increased its
balance again this year. Even with strong increases in employee compensation and inflation-driven food costs, the
balance in food service went up from $1.5 million to $1.9 million. Those balances will certainly decline in coming years.

VII. Maintain the current strong financial condition of district finances with the
following objectives in mind:
A. Maintain a general fund cash reserve at or above 25% of total expenditures.

Goal Exceeded: Due to federal COVID dollars, the cash reserve remained well above 25% again this year. That reserve will
return to 25% by the end of the 2022-23 school year.
B. Forego use of the opt-out levying authority for the 2022 calendar year.

Goal Attained: The Board approved no opt-out amount for the 2022 calendar year.

VIII. Regularly review K-12 and MTI board policies so that all are reviewed
every five years. Review series 1000-1200 during the summer of 2022.

Goal Attained. The review of board policy series 1000-1200 was completed at a board meeting on April 25, 2022.

IX. Program Level Goals:

A. Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary School:
1. As measured by the Smarter Balance state assessment, 67% of 3-5 students will be proficient or
advanced in reading and 64% in mathematics on the spring, 2022 testing.

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Goal not met. GBR’s ELA proficiency percentage was 56%, well below the target of 67%. Its mathematics proficiency
percentage was 57%, below the 64 target.
2. As measured by the STARS assessment, 90% of K-5 students will achieve at least one-year’s growth,
between the fall, 2021 and spring, 2022 assessments in reading and mathematics or score two grade
levels or more above their grade level.

Goal not met. Though GBR students traditionally meet this goal, a change in how this assessment is scored created a drop
in the percentages of students making one-year growth to 84% in reading and 85% in mathematics. We will re-evaluate this
goal in the future.
3. Pilot student interest groups in grades 3-5 from 2:30-3:10 each day, involving ELA skills, research, and
writing, culminating in a final written project which will then be reported out to the community.
Goal Attained but Adjusted. As with so many things, the COVID pandemic forced changes in this particular goal at GBR.
Originally, four rounds of this composition project were to be conducted, two during fall semester and two during spring
semester. Various constraints allowed for just three of these to be conducted, 2 in the fall and 1 in the spring. Additionally,
the ‘reporting out to the community,’ was simply not possible because the community, last year, was held separate from
the school building as part of the COVID response. Thus, only ‘peer to peer’ sharing was possible, though this was a definite
success. Did, then, this process, improve the quality of student research and writing? Those involved believe strongly that it
did but no objective data is readily available to substantiate that conclusion. It is also true that the process raised more new
questions about student writing, and how best to teach it, than it provided answers.
C. L.B. Williams Elementary:
1. As measured by the Smarter Balance state assessment, 65% of 3-5 students will be proficient or
advanced in reading and 65% in mathematics on the spring, 2022 testing.

Goal Not Attained. Actual results were 60% in ELA, 5 points below goal, and 62% in mathematics, 3 points below goal.
2. As measured by the STARS assessment, 90% of K-5 students will achieve at least one-year’s growth,
between the fall, 2021 and spring, 2022 assessments in reading and mathematics or score two grade
levels or more above their grade level.

Goal not met. Though LBW students traditionally meet this goal, a change in how this assessment is scored created a drop
in the percentages of students making one-year growth to 86% in reading and 87% in mathematics. We will re-evaluate this
goal in the future.
3. As measured by the standard formula for successful progress on the ACCESS assessment for ENL
students, 80% of participating students will attain that level of progress.

Goal in Progress. The assessment rubrics in this area changed since the goal was set for LBW. The actual success of
participating students in the ELL program was 38%.
D. Longfellow:
1. As measured by the Smarter Balance state assessment, 61% of 3-5 students will be proficient or advanced
in reading and 64% in mathematics on the spring, 2022 testing.

Goal met and exceeded. 61% of Longfellow students tested proficient or advanced in reading and 65% tested proficient or
advanced in mathematics.
2. As measured by the STARS assessment, 90% of K-5 students will achieve at least one-year’s growth,
between the fall, 2021 and spring, 2022 assessments in reading and mathematics or score two grade levels
or more above their grade level.

Goal not met. Though Longfellow students traditionally meet this goal, a change in how this assessment is scored created a
drop in the percentages of students making one-year growth to 85% in reading and 86% in mathematics. We will re-
evaluate this goal in the future.
3. As measured by the standard formula for successful progress on the ACCESS assessment for ENL students,
80% of participating students will attain that level of progress.

Goal in Progress. The assessment rubrics in this area changed since the goal was set for Longfellow. The actual success of
participating students in the ELL program was 56%.
4. Continue to implement the Longfellow Flexible Learning program for both ELA and mathematics in grades
2-5. Evaluate the efficacy of the program through SBA ELA and mathematics proficiency/advanced
percentages.
Goal Met. As noted in last year’s final report on goals and their attainment, SBA scores in ELA and mathematics were
consistent with an interpretation that the Longfellow Flexible Learning program is having positive effects on student
achievement. The spring, 2022 testing results support the same conclusion: the Longfellow Flexible Learning (Dens) program
appears to have a significantly positive effect on student achievement.
E. Middle School:

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 1. As measured by the Smarter Balance state assessment, 63% of 6-8 students will be proficient or
advanced in reading and 58% in mathematics on the spring, 2022 testing.

Goal Not Attained. The Middle School’s ELA proficiency percentage was 59%, below the target of 63%. Its mathematics
proficiency percentage was 51%, below the 58 target.
2. Enhance school climate by ensuring that all students and staff have at least one person they can
reach out to in a trusting, professional relationship. Evaluate the success of this goal through school
climate survey data.

Goal Attained. Through both the state mentoring and locally developed mentoring programs, the MMS faculty and
administration put a focus on faculty and staff connections in professional relationships again last year. 100% of those polled
in the school climate survey indicated that they strongly agreed, agreed, or were neutral on the view that they “work with
people who care for their students and work hard to provide them a good education.” The percentage feeling
appreciated as a professional was 75%, appreciated as a person was 77%, enjoying a “strong, positive professional
relationship” with at least one colleague was 100%, and feeling supported by their administration was 89%.
3. Use the IXL formative assessment software to inform instruction and guide academic interventions for
students in the 4 core content areas.

Goal Attained. Students this year took a diagnostic assessment in each of the four core classes (English, math, science,
social studies) as well as Spanish, using the IXL program, which then created an individualized program of study for each
student. This program of study is an intervention piece, building on the individual student’s strengths and addressing their
weaknesses. Such programs of study were utilized in most classrooms on a daily basis for 15-20 minutes. Students could also
access the program at other times, maximizing their potential for growth. The program also pushes advanced students to
higher levels, with their own individualized lessons. The interesting thing about formative assessment at this time is that it is
making great strides but still has enormous amounts of potential going forward.
4. Implement measures to address the disproportionality between student achievement of specific
student sub-groups. Describe measures taken for this purpose in the final progress report on goals.

Goal in Progress. Instructors in English and mathematics look at student achievement data, create formative assessments,
and engage a variety of instructional strategies in order to close the gap between the sub-groups. Once students and
strategies are identified, reading intervention groups are formed and math sections are put together to allow for learning at
the students’ ‘zone of proximal development.’ Power Hour and SPARC, both after school programs, and the Title VI tutor all
additional services to allow all students more time and assistance to speed goals mastery. These specifically addressed the
sub-group disproportionality. It is impossible to say whether or not we have attained this goal until such time as this item is
removed from the state accountability recommendations for Mitchell Middle School.
E. Senior High:
1. As measured by the Smarter Balance state assessment, 80% of juniors will be proficient or advanced in
reading and 58% in mathematics on the spring, 2022 testing.

Goal Not Attained. Actual proficiency (and above) percentages were 67% (stile one of the highest high school
percentages in the State) in ELA, below target, and 46% in mathematics.
2. Engage a process for providing wide-ranging and meaningful staff input for the design phase of the
Mitchell High School Building project.

Goal Attained and in Progress: On October 11, 2021 and on several dates/times prior to and subsequent to this date,
departments, including all faculty members, were invited into meetings with the architects to discuss current building usage,
future needs, ideas, visions, etc. That initial input was placed into an overall schema of building needs. Since that time, the
principal has shared building/planning updates with staff through e-mail, staff meetings, department meetings, and
leadership team meetings. With the planning stage now well along, the architects will be meeting with faculty and staff in
the early weeks of the 22-23 school year to receive input and discuss options on classroom specifications.

3. Implement measures to address the disproportionality between student achievement of specific

student sub-groups. Describe measures taken for this purpose in the final progress report on goals.

Goal Attained and in Progress. Because successful attainment of this goal requires two consecutive years of eliminating this
disproportionality between student sub-groups and because testing data for the two previous year (spring of 20 and 21)
either did not exist or was not ‘counted’ due to decisions at the state level, this goal cannot be considered attained at this
time, regardless of testing results. However, the high school administration, faculty, and staff took strong steps in pursuit of
this goal. Specifically, a committee of the mathematics and ELA faculty, totaling 20 instructors, participated in a data
analysis review. Instructors’ time was allocated to identifying academic short falls within the sub groups and analyzing
curriculum maps, lesson plans and instructional methods. Committee members introduced a weekend study retreat,
revised lesson plans, and reworked the delivery of such to address the achievement gap between student sub-groups.

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