Madison Reporter

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board of Education reviewed student data insights from the 2023-2024 school year during the Instruction Work Group meeting on September 9, 2024.

“The data allows us, and me, to set a baseline for our future progress,” said Superintendent Dr. Joe Gothard. The data “shows us where we must focus on improvement; it also provides insights to identify our most urgent priorities.”

The data snapshot highlighted four key points:

1. Forward Exam changes create a new baseline in literacy and math for students in grades 3-8.

2. Similar rates to last year of college readiness in literacy and math for students in grades 9-11.

3. Continued high rates of students completing high school in four years.

4. More students attending school 90 percent or better across K-12.

“We know improvement does not happen by accident,” said Cindy Green, assistant superintendent of teaching & learning. “Great organizations know how to get better, and here in MMSD, we focus on these guiding principles to continuously improve.”

The District Improvement Plan (DIP) outlines performance objectives that the district aims to achieve by the end of the 2026-2027 school year. Data from the 2023-2024 school year serves as a baseline measurement. Some objectives include a 10 percentage point improvement in reading and math proficiency for all students, with a 15 percentage point improvement for African-American students.

Data reviews occur quarterly, with summative versions each summer, shared Beth Vaade, senior executive director of Research, Assessment & Improvement (RAI). End-of-year data cycles review literacy and math scores, as well as high school completion and attendance—measures tied to improvement plans for the district, schools, and central office.

“In 2023-2024, the state made some significant changes to [the Forward] exam, including re-norming around cut scores and renaming the performance bands,” Vaade said. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recommends not comparing this data to prior years. This is another reason why the district is using data from the 2023-2024 school year as a baseline measure.

In literacy for grades 3-5 during the 2023-2024 school year:

* Overall: 47% proficient

* Black students: 14% proficient

* Students with an IEP: 17% proficient

* English Learners: 22% proficient

In literacy for grades 6-8:

* Overall: 47% proficient

* Black students: 14% proficient

* Students with an IEP: 16% proficient

* English Learners: 28% proficient

In math for grades 3-5:

* Overall: 45% proficient

* Black students: 12% proficient

* Students with an IEP:18 % proficient

* English Learners:23 %proficient

In math for grades6 -8:

*Overall :41 %proficient

*Black students :8 %proficient

*Students with an IEP :14 %proficient

*English Learners :23 %proficient

Both exams had high participation rates ,with94 percent of students completing the English Language Arts Forward test and96 percent completing the math Forward test .

In high school ,the ACT and pre-ACT are used to measure literacy and math proficiency .

Overall ,38 percent of grade11students scored "college ready" in ACT reading last year .Seven percent of Black students scored college ready ;17 percent of students with an IEP ;and18 percent of English learners .

"This result is stable from2022 -23,but denotes a five-year declining trend since COVID –a trend we see nationwide ,"Vaade said .

For pre-ACT ,grades9and10scored48percent proficient in literacy ,an increase of three percentage points from20 -23.Sixteen percent of Black students scored college ready ;17percentofstudentswithanIEP ;and26percentofEnglishlearners .

"For these two tests,we do see slightly lower participation rates than Forward [exam] ranging from76to82percentacrossthethreegrades,"Vadesaid .

Inmath ,28percentofgrade11studentscored"collegeready."Thescoreisstablestfrom20 -23butagainnotesa five-year declining trend nationwide explained Vade .FourpercentofBlackstudentsscoredcollegeready ;sixpercentofstudentswithanIEP ;and13percentofEnglishlearners .

Forpre-ACTgrades9and10scored35percenproficientinmath.SixpercentofBlackstudentscoredcollegeready;tenpercenofstudentswithanIEPand19percenfEnglishlearners

Vadethenreviewedistrict'sfour-yearhighschoolcompletionrate"We want all MMSD graduates college career community ready;ourfouryearcompletionrateisone metric helpsknowwe'reontrackforthatgoal"shesaidThereisoneyearlagindata,somostrecentnumbersareforthe20schoolyearOverall89percentcompletedhighschoolinfouryearswhichissimilar torateforclassoftudentswhoidentifyasBlack82completedhighschoolinfouryears60fstudentwithanIEP84fEnglishlearners

NextattendancedatawasreviewedThisperformanceobjectiveisbuiltaroundthestate'sdefinitionchronicabsenteeismwhichdefinedasstudentsattendingschoollessthan90time"We see consistent increases overall90betterattendance since21yearafterwereturnedin-personschool[post-COVID].Overallin70had90betterattendanceupthreepercentagepointsofprioryearForstudentwhoidentifyasBlack53metthisobjectiveanincreaseoffivepercentagepoints62fstudentwithIEPsupfourpercentagepoints67fEnglishlearnersuptwopercentagepoints."Whileweneedtokeeppushingtheseratesgoupthistrendisreallygreatoneforustobuildonasystem"Vaadesaid

BoardPresidentNichelleNicholsaskedwhatstrategiesbeingimplementedtoimprovestudentoutcomesparticularlyafterreviewingdataforstudentsofcolorstudentswithanIEPandwhoreEnglishlearners"I'mtryingtoaskkindquestionsaboutwhatwethinkwemightactuallyaffectchangeinsteadoffocusingononepointintimetestscore"shesaidGreenpointedtotheinvestmenttheBoardmadeinsystem-wideliteracyapproachessuchassmallerclassesattheearlyelementarygradesthisschoolyearcontinuedexpansionoffull-dayfour-year-oldkindergartenandfocusonscienceofreadingincludingnewcurricularresourcesstaffprofessionaldevelopmentShealsoreferencedschool-specificinterventionssuchSchoolsHope tutorsmiddle-schooltutoringpilotUWMadison"ThegoalthathavegroupcontinuingimplementtargetedstrategiestomakesurenotjustclosinggapsprovidingaccelerationstudentsGreensaid"