Sharon Shows Some Improvement in 2014 MCAS Scores

The MCAS results are in, and Sharon showed some improvement in the 2014 test. In Student Growth Percentile, the district went down from 55 percent to 56 percent in English and from 56 percent to 59 percent in math.

Here are the district-wide results:

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS: 89 percent tested proficient or advanced (52 percent proficient and 36 percent advanced), up slightly from 87 percent last year. 9 percent tested in need of improvement (down from 10 percent last year) and 2 percent tested failing (down from 3 percent last year).

MATH: 83 percent tested proficient or advanced (29 percent proficient, 54 percent advanced), which is even with last year’s results. 13 percent tested in need of improvement (up from 12 percent last year) and 5 percent tested failing (the same as last year).

SCIENCE: This year, 78 percent tested proficient or advanced, up from 76 percent. 20 percent tested in need of improvement, and 3 percent tested failing (up from 5 percent last year).

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandates that every student be proficient in English language arts and math by 2014. In Massachusetts, this proficiency is measured by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS).

A school must improve in proficiency each year based on adequate yearly progress (AYP). In Massachusetts, AYP is determined by student performance on various parts of the MCAS.