MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester School District (MSD) appears to have made progress when it comes to math and learning for students from kindergarten to Grade 8, but there is still plenty of work to do.
In a presentation to the Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) Teaching and Learning Committee, MSD administrators led by Assistant Superintendent Amy Allen provided a review of iReady data showing that over half of elementary and middle school students are not meeting minimum grade-level aptitude requirements for their particular grade levels.
The presentation provided data on iReady analyses of several thousand students from Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. In the two studies, scores tended to go up from fall to spring, but only at the kindergarten level did the scores of “on-grade” and “early on-grade” scores top 50 percent in mathematics and reading, with some of the scores seeing approximately a third of students three grades or below their expected grade level.
The Fall 2020 numbers took a significant hit in mathematics, as the administrators indicated that in-person instruction was more crucial for explaining concepts in mathematics than other subjects. The administrators also noted that it was crucial to develop fundamental concepts in mathematics early on, as new concepts require those fundamentals, making it even more difficult to catch up in later grades.
BOSC Member Karen Soule noted however that many of the students came up just short of reaching the “on-grade” threshold, something that was not included in the data.
Administrators and BOSC Members added that their belief that a comprehensive strategy across grade levels rather than teachers developing learning plans that do not coordinate with each other will be one of the key ways these scores will rise in the future. Increased communication between educators, students and parents also was discussed as a key priority.
“We have an incredible amount of work to do in this district, that’s why we have to be intentionally focused on good instruction,” said Allen.
In response to a question from BOSC Member Jeremy Dobson (Ward 5), Allen expects a three to five percent increase in scores during the next two iReady assessments.
Dobson indicated his concern with the scores, but also praised the efforts at transparency and plans to address the problem presented, something echoed by Soule.
“We need to give the community the good, the bad and the ugly. That’s what I said when I ran a school, the only way we can improve is by getting all of the information out.”
A full copy of the report can be found below.
