State Releases 2011 MCAS Data for Brookline Schools

The Mass Department of Education released their MCAS test data the other day, including performance data for Brookline. While a few areas showed notable improvements , there were some areas that did not.

Overall, the 84 percent of the town's students scored "proficient" or higher on English and Language Arts testing material, and 81 percent scored the same on Math. The overall statewide average was 69 and 58 percent respectively. 

The English/Language Arts category, across most grades, showed an upward trend. 60 percent of tenth graders who took the test scored the highest rating, "Advanced" in this subject, up from 47 percent the year before. 

The adequate yearly progress (AYP) statistics paint a less optimistic picture, especially for students in grades 3-5. In both math and language arts categories, students in those grade ranges did not meet AYP when broken down into sub-groups, or when aggregated as a whole. In higher grades, 6-8, the scores indicate black or African-American subgroups, and those with limited proficiency in English, did not meet AYP, although those grades did as a whole. Finally, in grades 9-12, while some subgroups struggled with math, all met the yearly progress goals for English. 

Brookline Schools took another hit earlier this year, when Boston Magazine released their annual ranking of the schools in Massachusetts. In the current rankings, Brookline placed number 23, .