Student Data Insights From 2023-2024 School Year Show Areas of Growth, Improvement

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board of Education had an opportunity to hear student data insights from the 2023-2024 school year at the Sept. 9, 2024 Instruction Work Group meeting.

“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:

• Forward Exam changes create new baseline in literacy and math for students grades 3-8
• Similar rates to last year of college readiness in literacy and math for students grades 9-11 
• Continued high rates of students completing high school in four years 
• 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 is striving to achieve by the end of the 2026-2027 school year. Data from the 2023-2024 school year serves as a baseline measurement. Some of these objectives include 10 percentage point improvement in reading and math proficiency for all students, with a 15 percentage point improvement for African-American students. 

Data reviews happen quarterly, with summative versions happening each summer, shared Beth Vaade, senior executive director of Research, Assessment & Improvement (RAI). End-of-year data cycles are set up to review literacy and math scores, as well as high school completion and attendance - the 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 Wisc. 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 the 2023-2024 school year in literacy for grades 3-5, 47 percent of students overall tested proficient, which is a combination of “advanced” and “meeting.” Fourteen percent of students who identify as Black scored proficient; 17 percent of students with an IEP scored proficient; and 22 percent of English Learners are proficient.

In grades 6-8, 47 percent of students overall tested proficient in literacy. Fourteen percent of students who identify as Black scored proficient; 16 percent of students with an IEP scored proficient; and 28 percent of English Learners are proficient.

In math for grades 3-5, 45 percent of students overall tested proficient. Twelve percent of students who identify as Black scored proficient; 18 percent of students with an IEP scored proficient; and 23 percent of English Learners are proficient.

For grades 6-8 in math, 41 percent of students overall tested proficient. Eight percent of students who identify as Black scored proficient; 14 percent of students with an IEP scored proficient; and 23 percent of English Learners are proficient.

Both exams had high participation rates, with 94 percent of students completing the English Language Arts Forward test and 96 percent of students completing the math Forward test.

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

Overall, 38 percent of students in grade 11 scored “college ready” in ACT reading last year. Seven percent of students who identify as Black scored college ready; 17 percent of students with an IEP; and 18 percent of English Learners.

“This result is stable from 2022-2023, but denotes a five-year declining trend since the onset of COVID – a trend we not only see in MMSD but nation-wide,” Vaade said.”

For the pre-ACT, students in grades 9 and 10 scored 48 percent proficient in literacy, an increase of three percentage points from 2022-2023. Sixteen percent of students who identify as Black scored college ready on the pre-ACT; 17 percent of students with an IEP; and 26 percent of English Learners.

“For these two tests, we do see a slightly lower participation rate than the Forward [exam] ranging from 76 to 82 percent across the three grades,” Vaade said.

In math, 28 percent of students in grade 11 scored “college ready.” The score is stable from 2022-2023, but again denotes a five-year declining trend nation-wide, explained Vaade. Four percent of students who identify as Black scored college ready; six percent of students with an IEP; and 13% of English learners.

For the pre-ACT, students in grades 9 and 10 scored 35 percent proficient in math. Six percent of students who identify as Black scored college ready; 10 percent of students with an IEP; and 19 percent of English Learners.

Vaade next reviewed the district’s four-year high school completion rate. “We want all students in MMSD graduate college, career and community ready; our four-year completion rate is one metric that helps us know we're on track for that goal,” she said.

There is a one-year lag in data, so the most recent numbers are for the 2022-2023 school year. Overall, 89 percent of students completed high school in four years in 2023, which is similar to the rate for the class of 2022. For students who identify as Black, 82 percent completed high school in four years; 60 percent of students with an IEP; and 84 percent of English learners.

Next, attendance data was reviewed. This performance objective is built around the state's definition of chronic absenteeism, which is defined as students attending school less than 90% of the time.

“We see consistent increases overall in 90 percent or better attendance since 2021-2022, the year after we returned to in-person school [post-COVID].

Overall in 2023-2024, 70 percent of students had 90 percent or better attendance, up three percentage points of the prior year. For students who identify as Black, 53 percent met this objective, an increase of five percentage points; 62 percent of students with IEPs, up four percentage points; and 67 percent of English learners, up two percentage points.

“While we need to keep pushing these rates to go up, this trend is a really great one for us to build on as a system,” Vaade said.

Board President Nichelle Nichols asked what strategies are being implemented to improve student outcomes, particularly after reviewing the data for students of color, students with an IEP and students who are English learners. “I'm trying to ask the kind of questions about what we think we know might actually affect change instead of just focusing on a one point in time test score,” she said.

Green pointed to the investment the Board made in system-wide literacy approaches such as smaller classes at the early elementary grades this school year; continued expansion of full-day four-year-old kindergarten; and the focus on the science of reading, including new curricular resources and staff professional development. She also referenced school-specific interventions, such as Schools of Hope tutors and a middle school tutoring pilot with UW-Madison.

“The goal that we have as a group is continuing to implement targeted strategies to make sure that we're not just closing gaps, but we're providing acceleration for students,” Green said.