Framingham High Upgraded to Level 1 Status After 2014 MCAS Results

The following is a press release from the Framingham Public schools issued on Friday afternoon, Sept 19:

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Releases District Accountability Status after 2014 Administration of MCAS.

Framingham Public Schools 2014 state testing results indicate continued improvement in accountability levels and significant progress in student growth and achievement levels. Two schools moved up in status: Framingham High School moved from Level 3 to Level 1 and Barbieri Elementary School moved from Level 3 to Level 2. A school’s status is derived from a combination of English language arts, mathematics, and science/technology/engineering performance over the past three years. Examples of some of the factors considered are achievement, student growth, and student participation.

Dunning Elementary School retains its Level 1 status and Hemenway Elementary School continues to perform in the top 20th percentile of K-5 schools in the state. All groups at Framingham High School have met or are above the six-year goal set by the state in all tested areas.

Student growth percentile (SGP) measures student progress by comparing one student’s progress to the progress of other students with similar MCAS performance histories. SGP answers the question: How much did my student grow compared to other students with similar scores over the past two years? An SGP of 50 means my student grew better than 49% of students who scored similarly, and 49% did better. An SGP of 40-59 is considered moderate growth, 60-79 is high growth, and 80-100 is considered very high growth.

English Language Arts Highlights

At the elementary level, an increasing number of students exhibited very high growth. Very high growth means that the student performed better than 80% of students who performed similarly over the past three years. Barbieri Elementary School nearly doubled the percentage of students achieving very high growth from 18% to 34%. All middle schools increased the number of students in the moderate, high, and very high growth percentiles.

Mathematics Highlights

Potter Road Elementary School increased the number of students achieving very high growth from 9% to 23%, and moderate and above growth from 47% to 66%. Framingham High School students increased the number of students achieving very high growth from 21% to 36%, and increased moderate and above growth from 67% to 75%.

Since 2012, Framingham Public Schools has demonstrated steady improvement as measured by MCAS. The state’s emphasis on student growth is consistent with the district’s emphasis on the growth mindset - the stance that all students can make progress and grow towards high standards of performance. The district aims to provide a world class education for all students and has worked diligently to align curriculum with the Massachusetts State Frameworks, to improve core instruction for all students, to build a comprehensive assessment system, and to create successful pathways towards college or career. Congratulations to the students and staff of the Framingham Public Schools!

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Editor’s Note: Framingham Patch will publish individual student results and analysis of the MCAS results over the weekend and next week.