Assessments show LPS teachers helped lessen negative impact of pandemic

While schools across the nation continue to learn how much the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students, 2022 fall assessments showed that students in Lincoln continued to progress at a better pace than their peers.

LPS officials released their Fall 2022 Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) data, along with information from previous years prior to and during the pandemic. The MAP growth assessment is one of the nation’s most widely used and trusted assessments to measure academic achievement and growth in K-12 education. It is an adaptive test that allows educators to make real-time assessments of student learning and timely adjustments to provide learning interventions and extra supports for students. It can also be  compared nationally with over 6 million students in grades 3-8 who also took MAP growth assessments in reading and mathematics.

Key takeaways LPS gained from the reading and math assessments include:

• In both reading and math from Fall 2019 to Fall 2022, LPS student achievement in grades 3-8 as measured by MAP exceeded the national average*. In some grade levels LPS exceeds the national mean for the norm group by a significant difference.
• In LPS between 2019 and 2021, in reading there were declines at only two grade levels, with the largest decline in seventh grade of five percentile points.
• Nationally*, the mean decline across grades 3-8 in reading between 2019 and 2021 was 5.2 percentile points. The mean decline in LPS reading across grades 3-8 over the same period was 0.8 percentile points.
• Between 2019 and 2021, in LPS mathematics there were declines at four grade levels, with the largest decline in seventh grade of eight percentile points – less than the range of declines nationally*.
• Nationally*, the mean decline across grades 3-8 in mathematics between 2019 and 2021 was 10.0 percentile points. The mean decline in LPS mathematics across grades 3-8 over the same period was 2.7 percentile points.
• LPS achievement as measured by MAP growth, in both reading and mathematics between 2019 and 2021, did not decline as much as achievement did nationally*. In some grade levels LPS improved in both reading and mathematics, reflecting the effort of teachers and leaders to ensure continuity of learning through the pandemic.
• Although smaller in magnitude than national declines, LPS declines mirrored the nation* in that declines were greater in mathematics than reading.
• In LPS, in both reading and mathematics, there were slight declines in median percentile ranks between 2021 and 2022. Analysis of these scores continues, but may be related to ongoing teacher and student fatigue related to COVID-19 protocols and challenges associated with students returning to in-person learning.

You can see more of the numbers on our website here.