Burlington Students Show Strong Growth in Reading and Math, Outperform State and National Averages

At a recent School Committee meeting, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lisa Chen shared performance data for Burlington Public Schools students along with the district's plans for continuing to increase student performance in the coming school year and beyond.

Burlington Public Schools uses a progress monitoring assessment called iReady to assess students three times per year in the areas of math and reading. On the math side, the tool is relatively new, as the district transitioned to iReady from their previous assessment, Symphony, within the last couple of years. They've been using iReady to gauge performance and progress in reading for over a decade.

Chen presented the performance data in a number of different ways, comparing Burlington's performance with national and state averages and comparing student performance at each grade level from fall to spring and year over year.

Burlington outperformed national and state averages in both reading and math at all grade levels, mirroring the district's performance on MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, the state's annual standardized end-of-year exam). And, overall, more students are on grade level at the end of the year than were in the fall – a trend that was stronger in the lower grades than in middle and high school.

The presentation focused not only on absolute achievement (or, how many students were testing at grade level) but also on growth.

For both mathematics and reading, Burlington students averaged "High Achievement + High growth" at all grade levels.

"That [growth] reflects a significant amount of effort," said Superintendent Dr. Eric Conti. "A lot of people want to focus on absolute performance and that's one measure and a way to compare different places, but we are more interested in growth because we're a public school district. We accept everybody. Your student population matters and so does where your learner is starting from. So we really want to focus on ... high performance and high growth. If we just saw high performance but we weren't challenging our kids then we would see lower growth."

While the administrative team was encouraged by this growth, they questioned what changes can be made so all grades can make the same progress as, for example, the 6th and 7th grades did in reading performance.

A large number of students in each grade (23-37% in math and 23-43% in reading) made more than one grade level of progress in a year's worth of time ("stretch growth"). This often represents a starting point that was below grade level – and depending on how far below grade level a student starts, they may or may not be able to reach grade level in one year, even if they make a more than a year's worth of growth. But, said Conti, if that high level of growth continues, "They're meeting growth goals and we'll catch them up eventually." At the elementary level, more than 90% of the students who met stretch growth were near or on grade level at the end of the year, a significant change from the same students' performance at the beginning of the year in both math and reading. A similar story can be told with the middle school reading data.

Cohorts can also be followed from year to year, which can allow for a comparison of (roughly) the same group of students throughout a time period, such as the below for middle school students over the last three years. Different classes of, for example 6th graders, can be compared, but also the 6th graders from 22-23 and the 7th graders from 23-24 and the 8th graders from 24-25 would be the same cohort, representing approximately the same group of students; this allows for comparisons of the same student group across school years.

Chen showed how the data can be disaggregated into different learning domains – specifically looking at Measurement and Data, for example, or Phonological Awareness – and how performance can be compared in the same domain across different grade levels. This can be compared year over year and with national averages; this information helps the district determine areas for focus and areas to celebrate strong performance.

The district is encouraged by the performance and growth of students but shared their plans to continue supporting all students in achieving at high levels. They will be adopting a new curriculum in the fall at the elementary level and are in the process of revamping the school schedules and professional development plan to ensure effective implementation.

"Oftentimes," said Chen, "everyone wishes that curriculum changes would happen a little bit faster, but I can say from my years of experience that we're moving at a speed that is doable for our teachers and we're making progress in places that we want to make."

A math curriculum overhaul is also in place, beginning with the addition of some expanded middle school options and an 8th grade algebra class, summer Algebra I skills review program for incoming 9th graders, and vertical alignment work to ensure students don't leave any grade with gaps that hinder their success in subsequent grades – as well as multiple entry and exit points to create math pathways that work for all students.

Chen also highlighted high school programs such as the flipped internship model and expanded options that allow students to obtain work experience and/or college credit prior to graduating from BHS.

The presentation, said Chen, is available on the district's website.