Key educational indicators show overall high performance in Brookline but marked racial and ethnic disparities.
Reading on grade level by 3rd grade is critical for continued learning. In 2022, 69% of 3rd graders in the Brookline School District were proficient in reading, up 10 percentage points from 2017 and higher than the state and Norfolk County. However, proficiency was much lower among students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds – just 32% in 2022. Proficiency among African American students was at the same level, while it was higher for white (74%), Asian (71%) and Latino (63%) students.
Graduating high school is another key milestone. In 2021, 95% of the 2017-18 Brookline cohort graduated, higher than the state rate of 90%. Students from low-income backgrounds graduated at a lower rate, 83%. There were differences among racial and ethnic groups as well - higher rates among Asian (98%) and white (96%) students in 2021, compared to Hispanic (91%) and African American (86%) students.
The share of adults in Brookline in 2017-21 with a bachelor's degree or higher was highest among Asian, white, and Hispanic residents – all at 86% compared to African American residents (33%). While there were similar disparities at the state level, rates for African American and particularly Hispanic and white residents were higher in Brookline than both the state and nation.
