November 9, 2023 – “I have a lot of confidence in this team and the work that they do,” said CUSD Superintendent Dr. Corrine Folmer in reference to the Board.
One of the takeaways from the CUSD 2022-23 Student Achievement Data Governing Board Meeting was that the results are not where the board wants them to be. However, in comparison to statewide results, CUSD’s performance is nothing to be disappointed about.
The meeting began with a brief welcome and introduction before diving into a half hour long powerpoint covering the academic achievement data. Following the powerpoint, the board had at least 45 minutes of questions and discussion.
It’s clear that CUSD, along with school districts all over the state, are trying their best to bounce back from the pandemic—and the student achievement data is representative of that.
A lot of educators and administration talk about “getting back to pre-pandemic test scores.”
That is not to say that there aren’t schools, grade levels, classrooms, and individual students that are excelling and doing incredible things—because many most definitely are.
When it comes to English Language Arts standards—with the exception of 11th grade—3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th have not yet achieved the test scores that they did pre-pandemic.
For Math standards, the students have not made it back to the pre-pandemic test scores. There was some discussion about a statewide trend of math performance declining over several years.
There has been some research arguing that virtual learning has negatively affected math performance in students.
While this wasn’t specifically addressed during the CUSD meeting, assistant superintendents provided examples of how some schools and classrooms are getting students out of their seats and working hands-on with math problems on whiteboards.
The percent of students meeting typical growth in reading from kindergarten to 8th grade: K 35%, 1st 71%, 2nd 72%, 3rd 62%, 4th 57%, 5th 56%, 6th 60%, 7th 52%, 8th 48%
The percent of students meeting typical growth in mathematics from kindergarten to 8th grade: K 33%, 1st 63%, 2nd 67%, 3rd 53%, 4th 48%, 5th 52%, 6th 66%, 7th 51%, 8th 55%.
This is really just the tip of the iceberg of the data that was provided and the discussion that was had.
One challenge that was briefly discussed was the lack of social skills present in some young children coming into preschool and kindergarten, due to their first years of life being during the pandemic lockdown.
In order to address issues, formulate solutions, and identify what individual students need, it seems that there is extensive ongoing communication both district wide and school wide.
CUSD faces many challenges now and in the future due to lasting effects of the pandemic. The board is very aware of where we are, and where we need to go. We look forward to the increase in student achievement within our district.