Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School Scores Department of Education Level I Rating

(South Easton) - The Massachusetts Department of Education has released 2013/14 MCAS scores showing a significant improvement for Southeastern Regional Voc. Tech. The high school’s Accountability and Assistance Level rose from Level 3 (Among lowest performing 20% of schools) to Level 1 (Meeting gap narrowing goals) in a single year. Determination of need for special education technical assistance or intervention moved from “Needs Technical Assistance” to an elevated “Meets Requirements.

Massachusetts schools are classified into one of five levels of accountability and assistance levels, with the highest performing in Level 1 and the lowest in Level 5. For the first time, Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School is classified as a Level I school.

Southeastern students are also outpacing other “like groups” and learning at a faster rate - Another demonstration of the potential power of vocational education when combined with quality academic curriculum, a caring and dedicated staff, and relevant real-world instruction.

Some data highlights of the 2013/14 MCAS results include the following:

· “English Language Arts Proficiency Gap Narrowing” continues to rate “Above Target” in every student group. A jump from 35% scoring Proficient or Advanced to over 90% in English Language Arts has occurred over the last 8 years.

· “Mathematics Proficiency Gap Narrowing” rating was above target (6 out of the 7 student groups) or on target, for all student groups, with continued improvement over 2013 scores for “all students” and most groups. The “All students” Mathematics Extra Credit category improved by over 5%. Math scores have gone from 35% achieving a rating of Proficient or Advanced to over 73%.

· “Science Proficiency Gap Narrowing” showed an overall rating of “Above Target” in Science, including improvement in all groups over the previous year, with a dramatic increase of 12.6 CPI points in our African American student group. “Science Extra Credit” for the “All Students” category more than doubled. The number of failures has been cut in half in under 4 years.

· All student groups met participation targets in ELA, Math and Science.

But what does all this mean for Southeastern Regional students? “Our students are achieving at very high levels on MCAS compared to our past performance. We’re getting them to proficient to advanced at a faster rate. Students can learn more material during their high school years. Also, many more of our students will qualify for John & Abigail Adams Scholarships, giving them free tuition at state schools of higher education,” noted Principal David Wheeler.

When asked what he thought made the difference, Mr. Wheeler responded that “paying attention to the basics like Reading and Algebra, making sure special education students get the help they need, paying attention to data in the form of benchmarking assessments related to MCAS, and our great teachers here at Southeastern.

Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School is a public 9-12 vocational high school located in South Easton, Massachusetts, serving approximately 1335 students from the City of Brockton and the towns of East Bridgewater, Easton, Foxboro, Mansfield, Norton, Sharon, Stoughton and West Bridgewater.