Chippewa Valley Times

Middle school students in the Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD) have demonstrated notable progress in their Math Forward Exam results, surpassing state averages at both ECASD Middle and South Middle Schools. The ECASD school board reviewed these outcomes on February 17.

According to the school board's agenda, Mandy Van Vleet, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning, presented a focus on middle school math scores from the Forward Math exam. Van Vleet explained that the presentation aimed to identify strengths and areas for growth in middle school math while sharing ongoing efforts to enhance this key performance indicator.

The presentation revealed that students at ECASD Middle had been performing below state averages during the 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 academic years, with scores dropping between 2% and 6.7%. However, in the 2023-2024 academic year, scores increased by 3.2%, bringing ECASD's average to 57.7%, above the state average of 54.3%.

South Middle School students showed better performance on the Forward Math exam. Their scores rose by 4.9% in 2020-2021 to exceed the state average but fell below it the following year before surpassing it again in 2022-2023. In 2023-2024, a significant increase brought their scores to 61.1%, compared to ECASD Middle's score of 57.5% and the state average of 54.3%.

Van Vleet's presentation indicated that seventh-grade students consistently improved their test scores over four years at both schools, maintaining results above state averages annually. Sixth and eighth graders faced challenges in the 2021-2022 academic year but recovered in subsequent years.

Economically disadvantaged students displayed stronger scores over four years but lagged behind their peers without such disadvantages by a margin of 30.4%. To address this gap, ECASD adopted its Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum aimed at enhancing academic performance through professional learning for new teachers and math coaches alongside evidence-based instructional strategies.

Math coaches are working towards continuous teacher development for math educators while providing intervention support to close learning gaps among students. An improvement goal has been set for South Middle School to achieve Math Forward Exam scores of 65.9% by the end of the current school year.