Statewide assessment results for the 2022-23 school year show students continue to need extra supports as the state prioritizes recovery efforts and resources to ensure that all students continue to accelerate and achieve.

In English language arts (ELA), 40% of students in grades 3-8 scored at or above their grade’s proficiency level, down 2 percentage points from last year. In mathematics, 32% of students in grades 3-8 scored at or above their grade’s proficiency level, up 2 percentage points from last year.

For high school statewide assessment, Delaware uses the SAT. This year 44% of students scored proficient or higher on the reading test, down 3 percentage points from last year while 23% scored proficient or higher in mathematics, down 1 percentage point from last year. On the essay test, 42% scored proficient or higher, up 4 percentage points from last year.

“We know recovery will take time, and we will not be deterred,” Secretary of Education Mark Holodick said. “We will continue to invest in the academic and non-academic supports students need so they can succeed in the classroom. To no one’s surprise, this effort will also require the work of everyone committed to Delaware students, including families, educators, community partners and beyond. As a support agency to Delaware districts and charter schools, the Department of Education is in a unique position to develop tailored playbooks for these groups in the coming weeks so that we are maximizing teaching and learning as well as best practices across the state. To rebound from what we’ve been through is going to require everyone’s effort.”

Despite the challenges schools face, the state is seeing promise when disaggregating the data to look more closely at the district and school level. The Lake Forest School District saw gains in both ELA and math. At Lake Forest North Elementary the gains were significant; 65% of students scoring proficient or higher in ELA, a 15-percentage point increase from last year. In math, 67% of Lake Forest North students scored proficient or higher, up 13 percentage points from 2022. Lake Forest High School saw SAT growth in reading and math as well with 2023 proficiency higher than pre-pandemic levels in both subjects.

“Our job at the department is to look at where we are seeing growth such as in Lake Forest and uncover lessons that can support other schools in our state,” Secretary Holodick said. “I congratulate Superintendent Lucas and his students and educators for their hard work that led to their success this year.”

Superintendent Steve Lucas credits his district’s collective commitment to data-driven teaching and use of multi-tiered systems of support to fidelity. Lake Forest’s principals are deliberately collaborating and sharing best practices to ensure every student receives a high-quality rigorous learning experience.

“Lake Forest is a unique community of committed learners. We are thankful to every teacher, student, support staff and administrator for their hard work these past few years. While we are proud of the growth our students attained last year, we know there is more work to do and we can’t wait to get started,” Lucas said.

Performance level data

In addition, the Department of Education also has an opportunity to look beyond proficiency and see where students are showing growth on the scale that leads to each of the four performance levels to see whether students are making gains within each performance level even if they are not yet reaching the cusp of the next level.  Students who score at a Level 1 or 2 are not considered proficient. Levels 3 and 4 are calculated together to get the proficiency percentage. By looking at student performance within all four performance levels one may be able to better understand progress for groups of students over time.

For example, within performance levels, Smyrna School District saw double-digit average scale score growth from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic levels on the grade 3-8 assessment. The district has prioritized instructional investments such as the adoption of high-quality instructional materials for mathematics in 2018 and ELA in 2022 and participation in the Bridges High Quality Professional Learning Network.

“When we look at performance level changes statewide, we can see our students are growing. Some have not reached the cusp of the next performance level so you don’t see that growth in the proficiency scores, but they are making important progress,” noted Secretary Holodick.

More 2023 results

In science, Delaware tests students in grades 5, 8 and high school biology. For 2023, 24% of fifth graders scored proficient or higher, up 3 percentage points from last year; 16% of eighth graders scored proficient or higher, down 1 percentage point from last year; and 22% of high school biology students scored proficient or higher, down 4 percentage points from last year.

In social studies, 26% of eleventh graders were proficient this year, up 2 percentage points from last year.  This compares to 24 percent proficiency in the 2021-22 school year. Eighth grade results for the state’s new social studies assessment will be released next month.

Delaware administers an alternative assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Find more information on this assessment as well as the ACCESS English language proficiency assessment here.

Families received their student reports in the mail last month, providing valuable information on their children’s learning progress. Educators received the results a few weeks after the students were tested.

For full results, including demographic and district/charter information, visit the Delaware Open Data Portal.

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