District Hopes to Improve Science MCAS Scores

While the Attleboro School District above average MCAS scores in math and English, the scores on the science and technology portions were not as encouraging and the district’s administrators addressed how they hope to improve those scores at Monday night's school committee meeting.

Superintendent Pia Durkin said the science curriculum needs to focus and be more specific in what it is trying to teach, asking “What are the key concepts we want to teach and when?”

For example, Durkin said that, instead of identifying a broad topic such as weather as something that students needed to know, they need to identify what exactly the students should be expected to know about weather.

Another challenging aspect that is unique to the science tests is that they are cumulative tests on students’ knowledge from as early as the third grade.

School Committee Member Jim Stors asked what the district is doing with regards to reviewing what students have previously learned.

“Realistically, you can’t fit, in fifth grade, all of that content,” Director of teaching and Learning Excellence, Nancy Sprague said.

Stors also questioned whether the administration chooses not to focus on the science curriculum as much as it does the math, English and language arts programs because the science scores do not have an effect on schools’ Adequate Yearly Progress status.

“The focus is on ELA and Math,” Stors said.

MCAS Scores Corrected

Superintendent Durkin also announced the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education informed her of a mistake on the district’s MCAS scores. In math, 79 percent of grade 10 students scored proficient or above, not the 75 percent originally stated.

Additionally, the failure rate on the math portion for grade students was actually 5 percent, not 6 percent.

Durkin stated that the mistakes were a result of human error and that the students who were affected by the incorrect scores would be notified.

Committee Notes

• Accepted the donation of $231.88 from Target to for deposit in the gifts and donations account
• Accepted the donation of $100 from Joanne and Edward O’Brien to for deposit in the gifts and donations account
• Voted to endorse the district’s participation in the DESE early adopter/adapter program regarding the new state regulations for teacher evaluations