During their October 20 meeting, the Kingsland School Board reviewed the 2024-2025 Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Report, which details various goals set by the district based on standardized test assessments.
The first goal was to have all 4-year-old preschool students achieve 80% kindergarten readiness on 60 skills sets. The school surpassed this with 100% readiness.
The second goal was to have the proficiency on the math accountability testing go from 47.5% (2019) to 70%. There is still work to be done on this as the percentage is now down to 47.2%.
The third goal was to increase proficiency on the reading accountability testing from 62.3% (2019) to 70%. Currently, 50.4% of students met reading assessment.
The district also had a goal to raise the percentage of special education students proficiency in math accountability testing from 15.2% to 35%. This is still an ongoing goal as currently 15.4 % of special education students met the assessment standards.
Similarly, the district’s goal of raising the percentage of the reading proficiency from 26.3 (2019) to 40% has not been met as only 18.9% of the special education students met the assessment standards.
The next goal dealt with the percentage of all free and reduced meal students at Kingsland enrolled by October 1, 2023, having increased proficiency on the math accountability testing from 32.9% to 55%. This goal was not met as 39.8% of these students met the standards. The goal for these same students’ reading accountability testing was to raise proficiency from 40% (2019) to 60%. Currently, only 41.9% of the students met the standard.
The goal to to have all Kingsland High School students enrolled by October 1, 2023, increase proficiency on the math accountability test from 57.1% (2019) to 70% was not met as 29.2% of high school students met the standards.
The goal to have all Kingsland students maintain or exceed a graduation rate of 90% exceeded their goal, with 100% of seniors graduating.
Superintendent Scott Klavetter shared during their recent staff development training they learned many of the jobs that require the skills these tests assess will be taken over by artificial intelligence (AI) in the near future, meaning the required standardized tests may not be keeping up with the needs of students.
“The point was, if your sole focus is teaching students the skills that are on those standardized tests you are teaching skills that are being replaced,” Klavetter stated. “It raised a broader question of what should we be teaching kids when the jobs they are going to be doing don’t even exist yet.”
During the board’s work session on Monday, October 6, Klavetter shared the district is working to get a broader picture beyond a once-a-year standardized test. Attendance and participation in activities outside of the classroom are examples of skills that are not measured but are important to future skills.
Community Service Day
During homecoming festivities, students took part in a community service day. Teachers Stacey Hogberg and Scott Eckelkamp gave the board a recap.
The seventh graders went to the city of Spring Valley to help at the food shelf, the library, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and to revitalize the popcorn cart. The eighth graders went to Wykoff and painted hydrants and helped on other projects around town. Ninth graders went to Lake Louise to help clear buckthorn and collect native seeds to be used in creating a new habitat area. Tenth graders went to Spring Valley Living. Juniors did tree removal at Good Earth Village and seniors went to the veterans home in Preston.
Other Business
- Kingsland received two anonymous donations; $200 to the kindergarten and $500 to the high school for student atlases, and Valley Lanes donated $300 to the robotics team.
- In a recent competition the Spring Valley-Wykoff Future Farmers of America (FFA) general livestock team placed 8th and horse team placed 23rd. The FFA has also been busy making and delivering 75 treat bags for farmers, hosting their barnyard at Spring Valley Living and holding their annual corn drive to support local food shelves.
- The Minnesota Department of Education compulsory attendance report for 2025-2026 showed 50 homeschool students in the Kingsland School District and 20 non-public students. The report was approved.
- The board approved the Assurance of Compliance Report, which states the district will adhere to the state and federal laws.
- The board gave their support for the district’s application for Minnesota State High School League Foundation grants to offset student activity fees.
- After a clerical error, substitute pay will be restored to $175 per day.
- The board approved the Spanish Trip to Panama and Costa Rica in 2027.
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