Most Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) elementary and middle school students continue to test below their grade level in reading and math midway through the current academic year.
And though there has been growth in student learning, some groups—including Black students and middle school English language learners—are lagging behind their peers.
Chris Brown, assistant superintendent of research, said the district’s goal for students is to achieve at least one year of academic growth during the 2020-2021 school year.
Aug. 31 marked the beginning of students’ first full year back in classrooms since the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to implement online learning in March 2020, causing setbacks for many, Brown said. In October 2021, one-third of LBUSD students tested three grade levels behind in reading and math.
As of the school year midpoint in February, the district is seeing faster post-pandemic “recovery” and learning in first, second and third grades than higher grades in both reading and math, Brown told the LBUSD Board of Education during a special workshop on Tuesday, March 15.
“All of our grade levels have shown an increase in both reading and math of students who are achieving at grade level,” Brown said.
Data shows students progressing but nearly three-fourths still below grade level in reading and math
Brown showed test data indicating that the number of elementary school students performing at or above their current grade level in math doubled from 13% in October 2021 to 27% last month, which he called a “sizable shift.” That leaves 73% of elementary school students testing below their grade level in math.
In reading, elementary school students performing at or above grade level increased by 11%, from 27% to 38%.
For middle schoolers, those performing at or above grade level increased by 8% for math—from 21% to 29%—and 4% for reading, from 30% to 34%.
However, the same test data shows that the majority of students in both elementary and middle schools continue to perform at least one level below their current grade, with many scoring two or three grades lower.
In reading, 61% of elementary school students tested below grade level in February compared to 73% last October.
In math, nearly three-fourths of elementary school students are one or more grade levels behind compared to 87% last October.
About a tenth of elementary school students are performing three or more grade levels behind in reading and math.
Among middle schoolers, about two-thirds continue to perform below grade level in reading, with one-third testing three or more grade levels lower. In math, about 72% are performing below grade level, with 27% three or more grade levels behind.
Learning growth varies by grade and ethnicity, with Black students showing least progress
Brown noted that within those scores, third graders showed higher growth than other elementary school students, adding that students in that grade switch modes from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn.
Brown also noted that sixth graders are doing better in math but not reading, and seventh graders are performing worse than their middle school peers in both reading and math, though he did not know why.
Megan Kerr, board vice president, asked Brown to look into it and said seventh grade is a time of transition that’s “tough on its own” without the pandemic forcing students online.
“Our seventh graders are struggling hard,” Kerr said. “The two years they’ve missed are pretty critical developmentally.”
Nevertheless, overall progress is on target as of the school year midpoint, Brown noted, adding that some students are already at 100% of target and already working on a second year of growth.
“On average, our students are at 50% or above growth for the year,” he said. “So that means we’re on pace.”
In terms of ethnicity, elementary school students are showing at least 50% progress across all subgroups, Brown said, noting that middle schoolers have “more variance” among those groups.
While white middle school students are progressing by 78%—more than the expected 50% at the school year midpoint—Black students are only at 29% of expected growth, Brown said. Filipino and Hispanic student growth is also lower, both at 36%, while Pacific Islander students are at 11%.
Asian middle school students are progressing by the expected 50% growth at the school year midpoint and those with “multiple” racial identities are progressing at 89% growth—the highest of all subgroups.
Brown also noted that those students who tested below their grade levels in October showed more accelerated growth over the first six months of the school year than their peers who tested at or above grade level.
“They’re catching up by accelerating,” he said, noting that their progress may not be enough to catch them up to their grade level by the end of the school year in June.
Brown also noted that learning acceleration may not be evenly distributed across ethnicities and he would present that information at the board’s April 14 meeting.
Next testing planned for April and May
Learning data is based on the district’s iReady testing for math and reading that it implemented last fall. The district tested about 37,000 elementary and middle schooler students last October and again in February, with further testing planned for the end of April and beginning of May.
School principals can access iReady data for their schools, broken down by classroom and student to address learning concerns, Brown said.
The district already implemented reading interventions for 3,200 students, according to Assistant Superintendent Brian Moskovitz, and tutoring for 2,300 students. The district is also sharing “best practices” by three “outlier” schools that showed higher third-grade reading progress.
Board President Juan Benitez still expressed concern about the nearly 50 percentage-point progress gap between white students and their Hispanic and Black peers who make up 70% and 13% of the district’s student population, respectively.
“Ultimately, our goal is that no students are below grade level,” Benitez said.