DeKalb District 428 data shows learning benchmarks compared to national averages

DeKALB – Students in DeKalb schools have shown some growth post-COVID-19 peak but school officials say there’s still a ways to go before matters return to normal.

Leaders in DeKalb School District 428 schools were presented end-of-year data as part of the State of the District presentation at a recent board meeting.

Jessica Nall, DeKalb School District 428′s coordinator of assessments, said data from the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth, which is the benchmarking assessment the district gives three times a year to all students, is not the only tool the district relies on to measure student growth.

“We do not believe as a district that increasing MAP scores is the goal of public education. We don’t,” Nall said. “But we also know that this is our benchmarking assessment. It is giving us some measure of where students are and where we want them to be.”

According to school board documents, about 26% of students in first grade districtwide fall between the 76th and 99th percentiles for MAP Reading. Roughly 28% of students in second grade districtwide fall between the 76th and 99th percentiles for MAP Reading, according to school board documents.

According to school board documents, about 31% of students in third grade districtwide fall between the 76th and 99th percentiles for MAP Reading.

Roughly 34% of students in fourth grade districtwide fall between the 76th and 99th percentiles for MAP Reading, according to school board documents. About 32% of students in fifth grade districtwide fall between the 76th and 99th percentiles for MAP Reading, according to school board documents.

Nall said the district wants every student to be able to grow.

The school board also was briefed on student suspension data for the district.

During the 2022-23 school year, 238 students were suspended in elementary school buildings, while 2,690 had never been suspended through May 19, school board documents show. Around this same time frame, there were 375 students were suspended in middle school buildings, while 1,174 had never been suspended.

During the 2022-23 school year, 479 student were suspended at the high school, while 1,437 students had never been suspended through May 19, school board documents show.

One such thing, Nall said, the district is working hard to do is keep students in the district’s school buildings where administration and staff have some measure of control over what they’re doing.

“Even if they’re not able to be in class because of behavior and other things like that, we can still provide instructional materials and have staff available to answer questions and things like that,” Nall said. “That’s certainly, I would say, that’s an improvement if we’re going to have students not in class at least they’re under our roof, so hopefully we can keep moving them forward.”

During the 2022-23 school year, there were 163 out-of-school suspensions and 75 in-school suspensions in the elementary school buildings, school board documents show. Around this same time frame, there were 153 out-of-school suspensions and 222 in-school suspensions in the middle school buildings.

During the 2022-23 school year, there were 150 out-of-school suspensions and 329 in-school suspensions at the high school, school board documents show.

“One thing that’s interesting is if you look at our elementary school data, most of those suspensions are out-of-school,” Nall said. “That’s not necessarily because of the severity of the infraction, although certainly that can be the case but because there is no physical space in most elementary school buildings where in-school suspensions makes any sense.”

Also at the meeting, the school board took a close look at student attendance data for the district.

The district has amassed an attendance rate of 87% for its student populations during the 2022-23 school year, according to school board documents.

Nall pointed to some factors contributing to the district’s attendance rate.

“I don’t think it’s particularly surprising that at the bookend, we have lower attendance rates as students have a bit more autonomy when they’re in high school whether they show up or are not able to,” Nall said. “At the [Early Learning Development Center], young kids get sick kind of a lot.”