Brookline's MCAS Results Slid During Pandemic

BROOKLINE, MA — Newly released results from the spring MCAS exams show more Brookline students failing to meet expectations compared to their peers in the same grades who took the standardized tests before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said Tuesday.

The percentage of students receiving a score of "meeting expectations" or higher in math and English each dropped from 2019, the most recent previous year the test was given after the exams were skipped in 2020 amid the sudden pivot to remote learning.

The largest drop-off in Brookline was in 6th-grade math. The percentage of 6th graders who met or exceeded expectations was 66 percent, down from 79 in 2019.

In math, the percentage of third through eighth grade students meeting or exceeding expectations fell from 73 percent in 2019 to 64 percent in 2021, while for the English language arts test, it dropped from 76 percent in 2019 to 72 percent in 2021.

Read more: MCAS Results Show Slide In Scores During Pandemic

There was a similar decline on the science tests, with 63 percent of fifth and eighth grade students meeting or beating expectations, versus 67 percent in 2019.

There was also a drop for 10th graders, more significantly in math than English. The percentage at least meeting expectations fell from 83 to 78 percent in math and 83 to 82 percent in English Language Arts.

Only the 5th grade science results stayed the same, with 66 percent of students at least meeting expectations in both 2019 and 2021.

While teachers unions and some advocates have called for pausing use of the MCAS tests or eliminating their use as a graduation requirement, Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday said he would be "very aggressive about supporting the ongoing process of using diagnostic tools to ensure that kids are getting the basic education that they're entitled to."

Families will receive their child's MCAS scores after Sept. 30, the education department said.

The 2021 tests for third through eighth grades were shorter than usual, a factor the department said can cause individual student performance to vary.

Materials from State House News Service were used in this report.