The State of Black Student Literacy Growth and Proficiency in Michigan: A Comprehensive Data Analysis

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium explores how educators can use benchmark assessment data as tools for liberation. The presenters collected literacy data from multiple Michigan school districts and conducted a comprehensive data analysis that looked at growth patterns that shape literacy proficiency outcomes for Black learners. The study used a mixed-method design, employing qualitative, quantitative, and case study analyses. This session references that study and how participants can use Conditional Growth Percentiles to interrogate literacy instruction. This session aligns to AERA’s call to “unforget” educational harm and imagine future-focused, justice-centered research and practice as a tool to improve the literacy proficiency of Black students.

Sub Unit

• Division H - Research, Evaluation and Assessment in Schools / Division H - Section 2: Program Evaluation in Schools

Chair

• David E. Kirkland, New York University

Papers

• From Data Overload to Precision Teaching: Using Assessment to Inform Instruction - Joe Musial, University of Michigan - Dearborn

• Interrogating the Numbers: A Statistical Analysis of Growth, Equity, and Missed Signals - Tera Shamey, Archetype Consulting

• Liberating Literacy: A CRI Framework for Reading Data on Black Children - Aaron Johnson, Archetype Consulting

Session Organizer

• Aaron Johnson, Archetype Consulting

Discussants

• Neha Sobti, Hofstra University

• Alfred W. Tatum, Metropolitan State University of Denver