Phil Dodd
MONTPELIER — Students in the Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools district are testing higher than state and national averages and have been for a decade. District-by-district school test results in 40 states compiled by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University and reported by The New York Times on May 13 show good results for the Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools (MRPS) district over the past 10 years, especially compared to downward national and statewide trends, and also to the performance of nearby school districts on reading tests.
For example, reading test scores for MRPS third through eighth graders were 1.7 grades above the national 2015 average score, only slightly below the district’s scores in 2015, but with significant improvement in recent years from a low in 2022. Math scores followed a similar overall pattern, but are not as high, coming in at 0.9 grades above the 2015 national average.
Superintendent Libby Bonesteel said the scores were good news, but not a surprise. “We monitor our data and we move towards the areas where we see gaps in opportunity for kids and we take action on it,” she said. “So, we’re really getting good at doubling down on the things that work and getting rid of the things that don’t.”
“We have very strong literacy scores, particularly in our middle school level,” Bonesteel said, adding that the district’s math scores are also significantly above the state average but not as high as literacy scores. “So we have some work to do in our understanding of how we teach math.”
Nearby school districts had mixed results, as seen on the accompanying graphs. Washington Central and Harwood Union saw declines in reading scores with the decline accelerating from 2022 to 2025, but math scores didn’t change much. Barre saw a sharp decrease in reading scores, dropping 2.6 grades from 2015 to 2025, with a big decline between 2017 and 2022. Barre math scores also fell significantly, falling 1.9 grades in ten years.
Statewide, reading and math scores also dropped sharply from 2015 to 2025. Vermont’s reading score fell 1.6 grades, from 0.9 grades above the national average in 2015 to 0.7 grade levels below the 2015 average in 2025. Math scores dropped a full grade to 0.5 grades below the 2015 national average.
Nationally, average scores fell, but not as sharply as in Vermont. Reading scores in 2025 were a little over 0.6 grades lower than in 2015, while math scores were down a bit over 0.4 grades, the Times reported, noting that scores fell in 83% of school districts, while math scores fell in 70% of districts nationally. “Something troubling is happening in U.S. education,” the report said.
The Times article cited two possible reasons for the declines. One could be the 2015 gutting of the No Child Left Behind law, which “set a goal that all students would be proficient in reading and math, and schools that did not show progress could face penalties,” the article reported, noting that critics said the law put too much emphasis on testing, but it did coincide with an increase in test scores.
Another possible factor in national school testing declines cited by the Times is the proliferation of devices at home and at school such as smartphones. Most schools now give students laptops or tablets, the article said, but “educators say there’s no question that swiping has decreased students’ focus and persistence, and time on devices has displaced time spent reading or studying.”
Schools today assign fewer whole books and have simplified the curriculum, literacy expert Carol Jago of UCLA told the Times. “There’s no other way, except volume, in order to become a really proficient, fluent, avid reader,” she said.
To come up with comparisons between states, Stanford researchers linked state test results — such as the Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program, given yearly to all grades — with the results of the National Assessment of Education Progress, a federal exam given to fourth and eighth graders and some seniors.
School Board Chair Mia Moore said the improvement in reading in recent years could be attributed to the district’s increased focus on literacy. “Around four or five years ago, we were hearing from families about their concerns about literary instruction, that it didn’t have enough of an emphasis on phonics, and that it was more focused on reading through contextual clues,” Moore said.
“I give a lot of credit to Libby and [district curriculum and technology director] Mike Berry for sitting down and listening to families,” she said. “There were some tough conversations.” The district also reviewed its data “and realized it needed to invest heavily in the professional development of our teachers in how to teach literacy,” Moore said.
The MRPS district purchased a program that involved elementary school teachers doing intensive professional development on a weekly basis for a couple of years, she said. “The professional development that we invested in and the more regular and rigorous use of the data has made a big difference,” she said.
“We have always had extremely committed, very dedicated, creative teachers,” Moore said. “I think what happened with Libby’s leadership was the development of systems that these teachers can work with that we didn’t have before. That’s a big reason that we’re seeing a shift [in reading scores] that the state isn’t seeing and that our neighboring districts aren’t seeing.”
Out of the 50 Vermont school districts included in the Stanford study, the MRPS 2025 reading score was the second highest in the state, trailing only the Norwich, Vermont/Hanover, New Hampshire interstate school district. Moore said “we feel good at the board level to see outcomes like this and I’m incredibly grateful to the Montpelier and Roxbury communities for continuing this investment.”
