Results from Massachusetts’ statewide standardized tests, the MCAS (short for Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System), were released last week. The Boston Globe summarized the results:
Nearly two-thirds of Massachusetts public schools are falling short of performance targets under the state’s new evaluation system, even as struggling urban districts achieve solid gains, state officials reported Wednesday.
In Boston, as well as other city districts, results on the standardized tests were mixed. Scores among 10th-graders rose to new heights. But in the lower grades, results were largely stagnant, and in a number of cases dropped.
Statewide, about 1,000 of nearly 1,600 public schools did not meet the new targets on the standardized tests this year, either for “high-needs” students, such as those with disabilities or from low-income families, or for the student body as a whole.
Here at City Connects, we are especially proud of four of our Springfield Public Schools–these ” turnaround” schools made double-digit gains in scores over the last two years: Homer Street, Zanettti, Brookings, and Gerena.
Our evaluation shows that students in City Connects schools outperform their Boston peers in middle school and achieve close to state proficiency levels in both English and Math MCAS. After leaving a City Connects school at the end of grade 5, significant long-term effects continue through eighth grade. Learn more about our impact on MCAS scores here.
For more information:
- From the Boston Globe: Many schools in state lagging on MCAS; Map the results; Sort by district; Minority students close achievement gap on MCAS
- From Boston Public Schools: BPS 10th graders score at highest level of proficiency in the history of the district’s administration of the MCAS
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From WGGB News in Springfield: 2012 MCAS Results Mixed for Springfield Schools
- Full results from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education:2012 MCAS Report By School, District
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