FYI from BSF, 10.28.22

 
 
 

Timed Assessment

First, we had data from NWEA and Curriculum Associates. Then, we had 2021 state assessments. Then, we had national/long-term results from NAEP. Then, we had 2022 state assessments.

And, yet, the release of state and large district NAEP data brought a siren of headlines chronicling student learning declines across the country and Massachusetts. Call it the power of repetition, reckoning of scale (“19-year low”), or good old-fashioned politics, a trend that had been evident for more than two years was presented as urgently new.

There were some new insights. Department of Defense schools (yes, that is a thing) and Catholic schools appeared to have bucked the downward trends. There is some evidence of some correlation of declines with remote instruction, but don’t appear to fit a neat political narrative. Survey data from students and teachers chronicle the effects of the digital divide.

Schooling is time bound. Children generally attend school for thirteen years, from age 5 to age 18. Certain things happen at certain times not just because of the progression of content and child development, but also because of finite resources. You can’t retain an entire cohort of kindergartners, no matter how much their learning was interrupted. Where would be the classrooms for the new cohort of kindergartners coming in? Who would teach them?

Our system assumes, even requires, children to move at a certain pace.

We can debate semantics or contributing factors, but the practical conclusion of all of this assessment data is that most children are off pace. The clock has continued to run for children’s schooling experience, with the traditional distance markers of learning farther in the distance.

The children schooled through the pandemic won’t have an extra few years to hit 3rd grade reading benchmarks. They won’t have a few more years to ensure they master algebra by the end of 8th grade. They only get so many shots at taking the MCAS during or after 10th grade. You have only until 12th grade to enroll in Advanced Placement courses. Many colleges and universities have made the SAT optional, but with 1.7M students still taking the exam last year, it is still hard to imagine a college application process wholly without it.

These markers have a rationale; they are correlated with outcomes we want for kids: intellectual and social development, access to college, increased earnings as an adult, etc.

The drop in average performance should not cloud that some drops are more pronounced than others. Since 2003, Boston achievement gaps for Black, Hispanic, and low-income students have increased for all NAEP assessments. In 4th grade math. In 4th grade reading. In 8th grade math. In 8th grade reading.

This means the average Boston Black third grader wouldn’t be able to find the main idea of a reading passage. The average Boston Hispanic 8th grader wouldn't be able to graph an equation. The average Boston low-income student may not be able to pass the MCAS, with a high school diploma on the line.

These missed markers have real consequences.

BPS announced new initiatives. Experts have sounded the alarm. There are some good intervention ideas. There is still a lot of money left.

Time is the scarce resource.

Notes in the Margin

City and state governance overlapped this week.

Wednesday’s Boston School Committee featured the first substantial update on the Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools since its announcement in May. The first order of business was pausing three school mergers announced that same day in May, along with an update of work-to-date. Other meeting materials here. Wednesday’s meeting was followed by a City Council hearing raising concerns around student safety.

The state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education also met on Tuesday. In its first meeting since the release of both MCAS and NAEP results, a substantial portion of the meeting was devoted to analysis (full deck here). The story in Massachusetts followed the national narrative - slight rebounds in state assessments, declines against the nation’s report card, the need to have a robust response - but it is important to take a longer view.

A quick toggle of filters using this handy online tool reveals that Massachusetts has seen some of the largest declines in NAEP results of any state since 2011 - the most for Black students in 8th grade math during that time.

Other Matters

Congratulations to this year’s winner of the annual School on the Move Prize, the Gardner Pilot Academy in Allston. Leveraging school-based autonomy and a tenured staff, the Gardner has developed a longstanding, effective “wraparound” model.

Will Austin