2019 MCAS Scores Are In: How Schools And Districts Fared

BOSTON — The state has released results of the 2019 MCAS test, a key guide to performance of the state's schools, as part of its effort to bring accountability to the education system while rolling out "next-generation" tests. This year's data show that 14 percent of schools and 6 percent of school districts need assistance, support or intervention, while 67 schools showed high achievement, high growth or significantly exceeded their targets.

The 6 percent of districts considered underperforming include 23 districts across Massachusetts — a slight improvement from last year, when 7 percent of districts were classified as needing support. The 67 high-achieving schools are listed here.

Tuesday's release by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education marks the second year for the new accountability system, which looks at additional factors beyond test results, including graduation rates, attendance and other measures.

It shows that 71 percent of schools met or made substantial progress toward meeting improvement targets in the last two years. Under the new system, two schools left "underperforming school" status: Channing Elementary in Hyde Park and Duggan Academy in Springfield.

For full MCAS results directly from the state, click here. Patch will report your school district's MCAS performance Tuesday and Wednesday. Subscribe to your local Patch for the latest.

Tuesday's release also showed the first year of results on the next-generation English language arts and mathematics MCAS tests for 10th-graders. Results showed that this year's class struggled with the exam: only 61 percent met or exceeded expectations on the English exam and 59 percent on the math test. Last year, 91 percent of 10th-graders scored proficient or advanced in English and 78 percent in math.

Results also showed the first administration of the next-generation science assessments in grades 5 and 8, which showed that 48 percent of fifth-graders and 46 percent of eighth-graders meeting expectations.

The next-generation tests are graded in four categories: exceeding expectations, meeting expectations, partially meeting expectations and not meeting expectations. These tests are taken mostly online, and have generally more challenging questions than the written legacy exams.

Overall, the next-generation results for students in grades 3 through 8 were up slightly from last year. Just over half of students across the state, 52 percent, met or exceeded expectations. Math scores showed slight improvements as well, with 49 percent making the mark this year compared to 48 percent last year.

On the grade 3 English language arts, the percent of students who scored in the
"meeting expectations" category rose from 52 percent to 56 percent.

The number of students who did not meet expectations was unchanged from last year: 11 percent of students failed to meet expectations in English and 12 percent fell short in math.

"Taking it from the experts that set the standard — we were pleased with the writing they saw," said MCAS Chief Analyst Robert Lee about the tenth grade scores, "Especially in English and the problem-solving ability, for many panelists, was presented at a high level."

The standards for the next-generation's "meeting expectations" rating are higher than the legacy's proficient level. Partly for that reason, the next-generation and legacy MCAS scores should not be compared, the officials said.

The new MCAS will still be used as a standard for students to graduate. Although the test was more rigorous this year, 87 percent of students passed all three exams and are eligible for graduation, the same percentage as last year. Officials said they are giving schools and students some leeway to give schools time to adjust to the new test.

This year’s accountability results also highlight areas of persistent challenge. While individual school results vary, this year’s data again show that a high proportion of the Commonwealth’s lowest-performing schools remain concentrated in a few districts, with a sizable percentage in the Boston public schools. A district review of Boston schools is scheduled for this fall.

The education commissioner is holding the names of the newly designated underperforming and chronically underperforming schools for release them later in the school year. Officials said he is taking time to "gather more information about district-level factors influencing school performance."

Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said he chose to wait on adding new districts to the 'underperforming' category to give districts time to "get grounded" in the new next generation system. "As we looked at the data what we began to see is rather than a focus on individual schools, we saw districts that were showing some weakness in being in the bottom ten percent. So, we're interested in taking a looker, deeper into the districts at this point," Riley said.

>>>Patch will have focused looks at your school district's MCAS performance Tuesday and Wednesday. Subscribe to your local Patch for the latest.