Image above captured from the report “How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better.”
3:40pm | The Long Beach Unified School District was named one of the top twenty school systems in the world in a report released today, entitled “How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better” by business firm McKinsey & Company.
Click here to download the report in a PDF document.
Three school systems in America were named in the report, which has been called “the most comprehensive analysis of global school system reform ever assembled.” The district was congratulated by California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell.
“Long Beach Unified School District has long been on the cutting edge of education reform by using data to improve student achievement, and by supporting great educators and teacher professional development programs. They have also made progress in closing the achievement gap,” O’Connell said. “I am not surprised that McKinsey & Company has singled out LBUSD as one of the most improved school systems in the world. Congratulations to the school district, its staff, students, parents, school board, and Superintendent Christopher Steinhauser.”
The district was singled out particularly for its advanced use of student performance data to increase testing results of students from all social and economic backgrounds. The report also praises the LBUSD for professional development for teachers and principals, as well as student math scores that have improved between 20-75% in grades 2-5 since 2004.
“As a result, there has been remarkable consistency in the architecting of practices and mindsets,” the study states. “Though there have been changes in the system’s priorities and approach, these have been the result of evolution, not revolution. Long Beach’s culture of consultation, the collective ownership of its schools, data-driven decision making, and the focus on what students learn rather than what teachers teach are all deeply embedded in the system.”
Superintendent Chris Steinhauser was clearly proud to be included in the report.
“We’re delighted and honored to be part of this landmark study,” LBUSD Superintendent Christopher J. Steinhauser said. “This report is the clearest sign yet that Long Beach schools are making extraordinary progress and that our efforts deserve to be supported and replicated.”
A graph from the report shows improved math scores from students in the Long Beach Unified School District through grades 2-5.