Literacy Rates Continue to Improve in MMSD
After years of sustained investments to improve literacy outcomes, the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) saw increases in student performance on the Wisconsin Forward Exam. Literacy rates jumped to almost 50% of students being proficient in English language arts in the 2023-2024 school year. This is on par with statewide levels, with 48% of Wisconsin students testing at grade level.
The Forward Exam is given to students each year in grades 3 through 8; last year, 94% of students in MMSD completed the exam’s English language arts component. Overall, 47% of students in MMSD tested proficient in literacy, which is a combination of students who scored at “advanced” and “meeting.” This is an increase of nine percentage points over the prior school year.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) implemented changes to the Forward Exam last school year, citing recent revisions to the Wisconsin Academic Standards for English Language Arts. MMSD will use the data from last year as a new baseline measure to compare future years’ data.
“The data shows us where we must focus on improvement and provides insights to identify our most urgent priorities,” said MMSD Superintendent Dr. Joe Gothard. “As we work to make MMSD a destination school district, we must do so with the needs of our students in mind.”
The district has been committed to improving literacy outcomes for all students and reducing gaps across the district. In 2021, MMSD and the University of Wisconsin-Madison concluded a joint task force on early literacy. MMSD has used those Task Force recommendations as a roadmap to guide decisions, including implementing a ‘science of reading’ approach, where students are taught speech sounds and print patterns using phonics-based instruction.
“We shifted the way teachers teach reading and writing to a science-based, phonics approach,” said Dr. TJ McCray, MMSD deputy superintendent. “Literacy skills are a progression. Educators ensure that students have the tools to access and analyze information, think critically and express themselves effectively.”
In May 2022, MMSD adopted two elementary-level curricular resources – one for English classrooms and one for Spanish dual language immersion (DLI) classrooms. In 2023, new curricular resources were implemented at the middle school middle school level. Further, Wisconsin enacted new legislation requiring school districts use this approach to literacy instruction.
“K-12 teachers support literacy instruction, starting at the basic levels of letter sounds all the way through comprehensive writing,” said Becky Kundert, executive director of curriculum and instruction and a former elementary school principal. “Teachers and staff take the strategies and concepts from their professional development learning time and then apply that in the classroom. We want to ensure all students have access to grade-level curriculum and targeted skill instruction.
One strategy the district implemented last year as a way to measure implementation of the new curriculum was “learning walks.” Central office leaders, along with school principals and others, visit classrooms across the district, seeing firsthand how teachers are using the materials and students are engaging with learning.
“The most powerful assessments are the ones that happen on a daily and weekly basis, so teachers can change their practices and customize learning to meet students’ needs,” Kundert said. “We want to ensure students are engaging with learning happening in the classroom.”
Several of the district’s elementary and middle schools had two-thirds or more of their students at overall grade-level literacy proficiency on last year’s Forward Exam. This a significant increase over the state average.
Shorewood Hills Elementary, near the UW-Madison campus, had an overall literacy proficiency rate of 84%. Van Hise Elementary, on Madison’s west side, was 75% and Randall Elementary, close to Camp Randall Stadium, was 73%. At the middle school level, Hamilton Middle School had an overall literacy proficiency rate of 76% while Spring Harbor Middle School was 70%.
“We know improvement does not happen by accident,” said Cindy Green, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. “Great organizations know how to get better, and here in MMSD, we focus on these guiding principles to continuously improve.”
School-specific interventions can play a role in improving student literacy rates, too. Several MMSD schools offer additional learning support for students with tutors from ‘Schools of Hope;’ and a middle school tutoring pilot with UW-Madison launched last year.
“The goal that we have as a group is continuing to implement targeted strategies to make sure that we're not just closing gaps, but we're providing acceleration for students,” Green said.
Looking forward, Kundert pointed to other investments the Board of Education made this year in system-wide literacy approaches. These include smaller classes at the early elementary grades and continued expansion of full-day four-year-old kindergarten.
“We are focused on supporting teachers, principals and school staff to create a community of learning,” Kundert said. “Madison does deeply care about wanting to ensure all of our scholars can read and write, so they can become contributing members of this community.”