# Boosting Math Proficiency During the 5th to 6th Grade Transition April 21, 2025 - [ Blog ](/news-categories/blog) *This Q&A is part of an SDP Blog series profiling members of the SDP Fellowship Cohort 15. All posts from this series may be found here.* ![Jeremy Raff](/sites/g/files/omnuum4446/files/2025-04/JR%20_%20LANCASTER.png) **Q&A with Jeremy Raff & April Hershey at the School District of Lancaster, a Cohort 15 SDP Fellowship Partner Agency** Jeremy Raff is a Cohort 15 (2023-2025) SDP Fellow and the Director of Data Analytics & Strategy at the [School District of Lancaster](https://sdlancaster.org/) in Pennsylvania, a district serving 11,000+ students. We recently caught up with Jeremy and his supervisor, April Hershey, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools, to learn more about their exciting and impactful work. **Jeremy, can you tell us more about your role at the School District of Lancaster?** Jeremy: As the Director of Data Analytics & Strategy, my team uses data to solve problems in our school district. We support and monitor district plans, ensure data quality, develop tools and resources (including dashboards), conduct research and analysis, and complete reporting to government agencies and the local community. Every day looks a little bit different, and I love working directly with schools and district stakeholders so they can use data to make high quality decisions. **What excites you most about your job?** Jeremy: I love that I get the opportunity to think strategically and be creative in my work. Every day, my team digs into new questions, and we can see the impact of that when working with school and district staff. Whether conducting research, developing dashboards, or helping schools or programs set goals or targets, we’re able to be involved with such a diverse range of departments and projects in our district. **Tell us more about your capstone project?** Jeremy: My capstone project is focused on the decrease in math proficiency from 5th to 6th grade. It’s evolved over time from developing an early warning system to including both statistical analysis and qualitative research with teachers and students. It has been valuable to learn from stakeholders and hear what they believe is most impactful. This work has also resulted in some cool new projects to try and address the achievement decline. **What impact do you hope to see as a result of the capstone project when it is completed?** Jeremy: I hope the resources and analysis that comes out of my project capstone are impactful and eventually drive improvement on proficiency. I hope it will help teachers feel more aware about their students’ data so they can customize their support. Some of the deliverables that will be a direct result of the capstone project include: a student conferencing dashboard for pilot school; establishing 5th to 6th grade academic transition meetings for teachers; and analysis and training on ideal cut points for our Star progress monitoring tool. April: Jeremy’s work has been amazing and is already assisting teachers and leaders with identifying and addressing the achievement gaps in math between 5th and 6th grade. Long term, I hope to see a narrowing of that gap and increased conversation between stakeholders using the data tools and processes he has developed. **What has been the most meaningful experience from your participation in the SDP Fellowship so far?** Jeremy: The SDP workshops have been incredible, and the cohort has so many impressive people that I’ve learned so much from. From these trainings and workshops, I’ve brought so much knowledge back to the School District of Lancaster to share with staff and inform our work. I always leave SDP workshops energized with new ideas to implement in my workplace. One recent example is developing a customized data protocol to support users in analyzing data from our organization’s data dashboards. **How has the SDP Fellowship strengthened the analytic capacity of your agency?** April: Jeremy’s participation in the SDP fellowship has enhanced his leadership and capacity to guide our department of Data Analytics and Strategy. His thoughtful and thorough work identifying data that assists us in creating solutions to declining academic achievement is invaluable to our mission and strategic planning goals. The fellowship has provided Jeremy with ideas and strategies to use in our work with teachers and leaders around all aspects of student data. It is clear that this work has been energizing and inspiring for Jeremy. See also:- [ Cohort 15 Spotlight ](/tags/cohort-15-spotlight) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)