Composite Learning Index (CLI)

Boston continues to lose too many students before they graduate, but current research points to patterns in middle and high school performance and social behaviors in districts across the country that predict which students are most at risk of dropping out. By tracking these patterns on an ongoing basis, and acting on them quickly, schools can identify students who need help before they fall too far behind. The Composite Learning Index is an easy-to-use tool that incorporates all of these risk factors and provides schools with an early warning system to prompt timely action.

How it works

High schools in the pilot receive the Excel-based CLI spreadsheet with data on all of their incoming grade 9 students in August, enabling them to make proactive decisions on behalf of students most in need of support. The CLI takes into account students’ past performance on MCAS and the Scholastic Reading Inventory, their grades in math and English, their age (and whether they were held back in the 9th grade before), and their attendance and discipline records. Each factor is weighted according to how well it predicts the likelihood of dropping out, and some factors such as grades are updated quarterly to track which students are making progress and which are falling behind.

Why it matters

Over time, Boston’s schools have produced slow but steady gains for many students. Much more can be done. Persistent low performance of some groups of students, particularly at the high school level, demonstrates that the system and its schools are not responding effectively to struggling learners. Used effectively by teams of school administrators and teachers, the CLI provides an early warning system to inform whole-school planning and prompt individual student interventions before students reach the point of dropping out. It is one piece of a much-needed effort to examine and address the needs of Boston’s least successful students.

Download a CLI overview, with a sample report.

Contact: Jennifer Amigone, Director of Data Analysis and Evaluation