Facilitating the Long Beach Network for School Improvement (LBNSI)
States and school districts are prioritizing data reviews to inform systemic-, school-, and classroom-level changes to teachers’ practice, with the ultimate goal of improving students’ outcomes. While summative assessment data, such as unit tests and projects, is important for districts to review, formative data is more actionable, as it empowers teachers to make decisions by the minute, class period, or day that will strengthen their instruction to better meet the needs of the students they serve. Formative data, such as bell ringers and exit tickets (e.g., quick checks of understanding), help teachers make timely instructional improvements that immediately affect student learning.
The Long Beach Network for School Improvement (LBNSI), funded by the Gates Foundation, aimed to improve outcomes for all students from within the Long Beach Unified School District by strengthening teachers’ English language arts (ELA) and math instruction through implementing change ideas and analyzing formative data collected to drive instructional adjustments.
AIR’s Continuous Improvement Approach
From 2020 to 2025, AIR collaborated with middle schools within the District to identify and address problems of practice related to ELA and math instruction. AIR’s content experts developed change ideas aligned with best practices to respond to the opportunities for improved instruction established by the educators participating in the LBNSI.
If LBNSI had not been a part of my first few years of teaching, my toolbox would be smaller and I would not be able to reach as many students…If I had not had all of those resources, they would not currently be implemented in my classroom.
- District Teacher
The project employed a continuous improvement approach through plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles that addressed specific challenges ELA and math teacher teams identified in their instructional practice after analyzing student data and conducting root-cause analyses. With support from AIR coaches using an iterative process, teacher teams selected, tested, and revised change ideas to address the challenges and plan for future instruction.
AIR provided technical assistance and support to educators and instructional coaches throughout each phase of the PDSA cycles, particularly in defining and reviewing data on the effectiveness of the strategies each teacher and/or team tested. In addition, AIR brought the school teams together through in-person and virtual meetings to share implementation successes and opportunities for improvement, get feedback from one another, and learn about new or relevant resources and research.
Key Findings
I think the coolest thing that came out of [participating in LBNSI] was when they actually were able to examine their data[, as] the ultimate goal of this work is to notice things from data.
- ELA Coach
On the iReady math assessment, LBNSI schools with math teams saw a greater change in the percentage of students who performed at or above grade level from fall 2023 to spring 2024 than schools without math teams.
This was true for the overall sample of students in Grades 6–8, as well as for each grade level individually. This difference in growth as measured by proficiency scores was particularly notable for Black students in Grade 8, who saw an increase of 17.8 percentage points at LBNSI schools with math teams, compared to an increase of 6.3 percentage points at schools without math teams (LBNSI or non-LBNSI).
Students at LBNSI schools saw more growth in their reported sense of belonging on the LBUSD student survey in Year 4 than schools that were not participating in the network.
We found that LBNSI schools (with either an ELA team, a math team, or both) saw a greater change from fall 2023 to spring 2024 in the percentage of students reporting a positive sense of belonging. This difference can be seen for the overall sample of students in Grades 6–8 and for each grade level individually. Furthermore, Hispanic students and Black students at NSI schools saw a greater change from fall to spring than their peers at non-participating schools.
The PDSA cycles…informed their actions and steps, [and] now they have all bought into that there is a necessary need for ongoing data collection and that there’s a need to focus on particular change ideas.
- Math Coach
LBNSI schools with multiple subject area teams (i.e., ELA and math) saw greater increases in students’ sense of belonging from fall to spring than NSI schools with a single team.
This trend was evident for all students in Grades 6–8, as well as for each grade level individually. Black and Hispanic students at LBNSI schools with two subject area teams also saw a greater change from fall to spring than their peers at LBNSI schools with one subject area team.
It is worth noting that these differences are descriptive in nature and do not indicate statistical significance or a causal relationship.
