MCAS Scores Are Out

The state released released its MCAS results and Barnstable schools outperformed the state average, with some obvious areas for improvement.

“We’re pleased with the results,” Barnstable School Superintendent Mary Czajkowski said. “We still have lots of work to do.”

School Administration staff will analyze the numbers and present them to the School Committee October 17. They show weaknesses in special education, English as a second language, the eighth grade and math.

“It’s become much more of a concern to us concerning non-graduating students at the high school,” Czajkowski said of special education. “It’s always a challenge, especially in math. Even with services, it’s always a challenge.”

Those services include tutoring, after-school programs and “targeted intervention” for individual not progressing.

“No one’s satisfied with the results,” Czajkowski said. “I give a lot of credit to the teachers, though.”

The non-English language speakers offer another large challenge, especially in West Hyannis Elementary School. The high school has 60 English language learners. West Elementary has 90 in a total population of 300. The languages range from Portuguese and Spanish to Hindi and Arabic.

“We’re looking at more resources,” Czajkowski said. “We have children entering the first grade who have never been in school and speak no English.”

The school system moved the eighth grade into the high school two years ago. In that grade, the numbers for English barely beat the state average and the math numbers fell below.

“That’s our transition grade,” Czajkowski said. “They haven’t gone down, but they haven’t gone up.”

Math in all grades stalled, compared to the state average.

“We’re working on it,” Czajkowski said.