New State Accountability System

The state has just released MCAS test results from last year, along with ratings of each school and district in the state, using a new accountability system. You can see the details of our schools’ results by going to: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/. You can also try to go directly there through this link: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/accountability/report/district.aspx?linkid=30&orgcode=06740000&orgtypecode=5&

We will provide an in-depth analysis of these results in the weeks ahead. But in the meantime here are some general observations from the superintendent:

1. The state’s accountability system is brand new, complex, and varies significantly from the past system. So, it will take some time for users to understand all of its components.

2. It is only the second year of the new elementary and middle school MCAS test system and we do not get to see many of the test questions, so it is difficult to use the test results to inform instruction in a meaningful way just yet.

3. The district was labeled as “requiring assistance or intervention” because of a low participation rate of Latino students on the MCAS science tests; 18 of 20 students, or 90%.

4. Student growth scores in grades 3-8 were equal to the state average in both ELA and math which is encouraging. Student growth scores were low at the high school level in ELA and math which is a concern.

5. Math achievement at the elementary grades is a priority area for improvement.