Burlington Sees Gains In Elementary School MCAS Scores

BURLINGTON, MA -- The latest MCAS test results were released by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Thursday, and the results show 63% of students meeting targets. That's below the 75% required by the state for the school system to be classified as "meeting targets." Still, Burlington Public Schools officials pointed to some progress in the standardized test, which is in the second year of the so-called Next Generation assessment.

Patrick Larkin, Burlington's assistant superintendent for learning, said because the new assessment is only in its second year, its too early to establish trends.

"Our students in Burlington took the next-generation tests in grades 3-8 and we were happy to see a great deal of improvement in the writing scores at the elementary level from last year when we were significantly below the state average in grades 3-5," Larkin said.

Last year, for example, fourth graders in Burlington were 13 points below the state average on the Writing Anchor Standard. In the most recent results, fourth graders were two points above the state average. Fifth graders, who were 12 points below state averages last year, scored two points above state averages this year. Scores for high school students were similar this year to last year's scores.

"We are excited for the broader view of schools that the new accountability system employs, taking into account factors such as attendance and advanced coursework completion," Larkin said.

The complete assessment for Burlington Public Schools is available on the DESE Website.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).