Statewide scores drop despite record-high school spending and record-low school enrollment
By Michael Bielawski
Data from the Vermont Department of Education indicates that students’ English, math, and science scores are declining or just low. This is despite double-digit percent cost hikes in education property taxes this year and likely again next year.
The data is from the preliminary 2023-24 Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program results. In mathematics, the numbers are not great. For each of grades 3-8, scores dropped from last year. Fewer students are considered proficient.
The “Average Scaled Score” for grade 3 dropped by four points, grade 4 dropped by ten points, grade 5 by seven, and the other grades similarly dropped except for grade 9 went up five points. It is not clarified what a “scaled score” means.
The data for English was a mix, with four grades dropping a combined eight points and three grades improving by a combined 15, and just over about half the students are considered proficient. Science was also a mix with scores generally the same as last year and overall more than half of all students are non-proficient.
Interim Secretary of Education Zoie Saunders said having this data, just two years now for the new test, is a great resource.
“The Agency is committed to accelerating this process to ensure schools and School Boards have the data they need to support timely decision-making. At the same time, we will continue focusing on improving student outcomes in reading, math, and science,” she said.
She continues, “Our educators are dedicated to promoting academic achievement, and the Agency remains an active partner. We recognize that our work isn’t done until we ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed.”
Half or fewer students proficient
Be it math, English, or science, about half or more of all Vermont students are not considered “proficient” in the subject. For English, proficiency ranges from 48% to 58%. For math, those numbers dip to between 30% and 48%. And for science, the range is 41% to 46%.
“Equity Results”
There is a separate section of data category for “equity results”. For example, there are the “2024 Statewide English Language Arts Equity Results” and the “2024 Statewide Mathematics Equity Results” and so on.
“The tables below show a comparison between students from historically marginalized backgrounds (HM) and students not from HM backgrounds. The HM group includes students from racial and ethnic minorities, students living in poverty, students on IEPs, English learners and migrant students, students experiencing homelessness or living in foster care, and students from military-affiliated families.”
So for English for example, it shows that the HM group scored at least 70 points lower for all grade levels and a similar result for mathematics.
The report concludes, “Large achievement gaps are evident, with differences in average percent proficient between the two groups ranging from 25% to 35% depending on grade and subject. Specifically, average percent proficient for students from HM backgrounds range from 19% to 43%, while the same percents range from 47% to 76% for students not from HM backgrounds.”
Record spending, declining enrollment
This past year property taxes that fund education were up about 14% statewide and it could have been higher were it not bought down via one-time funds. It’s widely expected that education costs will continue to rise next year as well.
Political analyst Rob Roper has written numerous commentaries on the matter of high education spending. He recently noted that Vermont pays the second highest per student in the nation.
He wrote, “Well, one could argue that the $2 billion the state already collects from us every year to the tune of nearly $25,000 per student – second highest spending levels in the nation – already amounts to having found the ‘necessary revenues’ for schools.”
The Agency of Education oversees a $ 2.7 billion education system with an operating budget of just over $ 55.7 million and 176 positions. Vermont public school enrollment K-12 is 72,093 students, down 650 from 72,747.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle