FAQ: Opportunity Index

What is the Opportunity Index?

The Boston Public Schools (BPS) Opportunity Index is a composite index that incorporates a range of data representing factors that are outside of the schools’ control, yet are predictive of students’ academic outcomes. The data include “place-based” measures related to students’ home neighborhoods – as defined by Boston’s 177 U.S. Census tracts – as well as measures specific to individual students and their families. By rolling multiple measures into a single, more accessible metric, BPS is better equipped to direct resources and supports to the schools and students who need them most.

Why did BPS develop the Opportunity Index?

Closing opportunity and achievement gaps is the Boston Public Schools’ driving priority. It is the catalyst for the hard work we are doing to replace the structures, practices, and mindsets that perpetuate inequities. Every student, in every classroom, in every school of the BPS system should have the same unconstrained opportunity to achieve the greatness within him or her. We know that students come to school with differing experiences, opportunities, and needs, but as a district, we historically have lacked a nuanced way to account for these differences and mitigate inequities that are out of schools’ immediate control. The Opportunity Index is an innovative tool created to help quantify these differences so we can make decisions and allocate resources more equitably, helping to close gaps in opportunity.

How was the Opportunity Index originally developed?

The Opportunity Index is designed to identify schools with higher concentrations of students in need of additional resources and supports to overcome opportunity gaps. To develop the Index, BPS partnered with researchers from Northeastern University and Harvard University through the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI). This work was mostly done during summer and fall 2017 in preparation for the FY19 budget cycle.

How often will the Opportunity Index be recalculated?

The Opportunity Index will be calculated once for each school year. The initial methodology and calculations were used for decision-making in school year 2018-2019 (fiscal year 2019), and adjustments were made (outlined below) for school year 2019-2020 (fiscal year 2020). No changes to the model were made for school year 2021-2022 (fiscal year 2022). Every year, the district will recalculate the Index, using essentially the same model but incorporating any newly-available student and neighborhood data, and any changes to the indicators or their relative “weight” in the formula.

Did the district take into account feedback raised by school leaders and community members for FY20?

Yes. After the initial launch of the Opportunity Index in December 2017, feedback was collected from school leaders, School Committee members, partner organizations and the larger BPS community. Several themes emerged from this feedback, including gentrification, immigrant students and the exclusion of students with other needs, such as students with disabilities and English learners. This feedback was considered during the revision process through summer and fall 2018, resulting in an updated OI model for 2019-2020 (fiscal year 2020).

Changes to the OI for FY20

Each of the student-specific past performance indicators is calculated using the student’s previous educational level. That is, for high school students, the OI uses measures from the middle grades, and for middle school students, the OI uses measures from the elementary grades. The individual factors included use data from the current school year for each student. Neighborhood variables rely on the most currently available data, which often lags behind by two or three years. However, because neighborhood change usually happens gradually, neighborhood metrics are generally not substantially outdated.

Calculating the OI

How are these factors combined to generate the Opportunity Index?

Using multi-level statistical analyses, we  calculated a “weight” for each of the indicators based on how predictive the indicator was of a students’ future academic outcomes. That is, if course failure was twice as predictive of chronic absenteeism was twice in predicting MCAS performance, it would be twice as important in determining a students’ OI score.

We calculate a composite score for each student in the school using the available variables (for example, new students will not have historic data). We then standardize these scores across the district relative to their peers at the same educational level (elementary, middle, or high). That is, each student is given a percentile score from 0.01 to 0.99, representing their relative level of need within BPS.

Each school’s Opportunity Index score is the average of all the individual student scores. Opportunity Index scores range from 0.01 to 0.99, with higher numbers indicating a higher average level of student need. Because of this, a school’s OI score represents their average student -- that is, a school with an OI score of .63 has a typical student with higher needs than 63% of BPS students. Of course, each school contains a range of students, and even some of our lowest overall need schools have some of the highest need students in the district.

How are homeless students counted in the Index?

Homeless students are associated with the census tract from their last known home address.

Why are immigrant students only counted for their first three years in the U.S.?

The immigrant definition used in the OI aligns with the federal definition of an immigrant, which BPS is required to report to the MA DESE annually. BPS does not track whether or not the student is a legal or illegal immigrant, only that the student has recently moved to the US.

What information will schools receive about their Opportunity Index calculation?

Each school has received a customized “scorecard” that includes its overall Opportunity Index score and a breakdown of the various indicators that contributed to the score. The report is designed to provide each school with an overview of the average level of student need, rather than specific information about individual students or their home neighborhoods. 

Why did my school’s score change from FY21 to FY22?

Similar to WSF, every year a school’s OI score should change slightly in response to enrollment shifts. In a typical year, we expect nearly all schools to see their OI change by less than 0.05 with some schools not seeing any change.  Schools with more significant enrollment changes may see greater swings. We realize that these enrollment changes will result in funding changes and are working with the Budget Office to work to smooth out these changes to allow for stable planning. However, while these swings can be disruptive, the OI is designed to automatically move funding from schools that become lower need to those that are becoming higher need.