Highcrest & Wilmette Junior High School MAP Scores

Evidence from MAP Scores: Are the shares of students meeting their growth targets good? How does growth in Wilmette compare to growth in other high-achieving schools?

Data from both pre-COVID and COVID.

Transcript

1. Highcrest & WJHS MAP Scores Diane Schanzenbach April 3, 2021 Version 1.0
2. Highlights of this report on the 2021 MAP winter assessment, presented by Katie Lee, Wilmette Administrator for Curriculum & Instruction, to the school board committee of the whole – Average scores in Wilmette in math & reading across all grades are substantially higher than the national average – Grade-by-grade comparisons from winter 2018 to winter 2021 of math & reading average scores – Many are quite stable, up or down 1 point – Grade-by-grade comparisons from winter 2018 to winter 2021 of the share of students meeting their expected growth benchmarks – Many are stable, some down substantially – Breakdowns by performance groupings, fall-to-winter growth, last 3 years, by grade – Groups: 1. Low Achievement, Low Growth; 2. High Achievement, Low Growth; 3. Low Achievement, High Growth; 4. High Achievement, High Growth – Notes: – ”low achievement” defined as score < 50th percentile – “low growth” defined as growth < 50th percentile compared to others with your same fall score
3. Questions usually left unanswered by Board Reports – Comparisons of our test scores to national averages aren’t informative – With our demographics & spending, we should be scoring substantially above the national averages – Are the shares of students meeting their growth targets good? – How does growth in Wilmette compare to growth in other high- achieving schools? Information in this document available due to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to District 39.
4. Percentile ranks of average math scores, by school & grade Interpretation: In fall 2020, the average 5th grade math score at Highcrest school was at the 96th percentile of all 5th grade schools. From fall to winter this year, the average 5th grade math score at Highcrest school fell from the 96th percentile to the 90th percentile. Math: Fall 2020 Math: Winter 2021 Reading: Fall 2020 Reading: Winter 2021 Grade 5 96 90 97 95 Grade 6 96 96 95 97 Grade 7 95 94 96 97 Grade 8 96 96 94 95
5. Context: school averages are different than student averages You may be used to seeing your own child’s test score percentile bounce around a little bit from test to test – depending on how they’re feeling that day, luck of the draw on test topics, etc. But school means are usually much more stable – a 6 percentile rank drop is sizeable! The percentile norms didn’t change, so can see how much lost due to COVID. Math: Fall 2020 Math: Winter 2021 Reading: Fall 2020 Reading: Winter 2021 Grade 5 96 90 97 95 Grade 6 96 96 95 97 Grade 7 95 94 96 97 Grade 8 96 96 94 95
6. Wilmette has excellent levels of school achievement Some grades saw steady or increasing performance – good news! Math: Fall 2020 Math: Winter 2021 Reading: Fall 2020 Reading: Winter 2021 Grade 5 96 90 97 95 Grade 6 96 96 95 97 Grade 7 95 94 96 97 Grade 8 96 96 94 95
7. How do you think about our growth compared to other high- achieving schools? School conditional growth percentile Compares growth in our schools to growth in schools with the same baseline test score as ours. • Percentile ranking at 50th percentile means half of schools that have our same test score characteristics have higher growth, and half have lower growth
8. From Fall 19 to Fall 20, grades varied in their growth percentile compared to similar schools Math generally unimpressive; reading quite strong Fall 19 - Fall 20 Math Growth, School Conditional Growth Percentile Math Reading Grade 5 15 51 Grade 6 5 51 Grade 7 30 44 Grade 8 71 67
9. Growth generally fell this fall This compares to “normal” growth (but these were not normal times) Fall 20 –Winter 21 Math Growth, School Conditional Growth Percentile Math Reading Grade 5 1 15 Grade 6 61 95 Grade 7 16 77 Grade 8 45 65
10. Highcrest & WJHS performance during COVID generally better than the elementary schools’ (presented separately) Fall 20 –Winter 21 Math Growth, School Conditional Growth Percentile Central Harper McKenzie Romona Grade 2 1 42 45 28 Grade 3 1 44 32 3 Grade 4 16 4 7 1
11. Getting back on track – This is consistent with the downward achievement trends I documented last year – These have been years in the making, and will require effort to turn around – Puts some numbers on the academic ground we have lost due to COVID – The board & parents need to be monitoring school performance in a meaningful way – Data on our achievement and growth relative to similar peers should be routinely monitored and presented to the Board & parents – School conditional growth percentiles is a sensible approach