Wakefield's 2011 MCAS Scores: More Grade 10 Students Proficient, But Less Advanced

More 10th grade students are testing proficient and less are testing needs improvement in math, science and English, but less are also testing in the "advanced" categories than in previous years, according to the latest round of MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assesment System) scores released earlier this week.

The grade 10 English, math, and science tests, the tests that all students must pass in order to graduate from a public high school in Massachusetts, showed that in 2011, 63 percent of students scored in the proficient category in English, as compared to 55 percent in 2010, 33 percent of students scored proficient in math, compared to 19 percent in 2010, and 65 percent scored proficient in science, compared to 62 percent in 2010.

Additionally, on the English test, grade 10 students who tested into the needs improvement category dropped from 15 percent in 2010 to 10 percent in 2011, and failing students dropped from 2 percent to 1 percent. On the math test, students who scored in the needs improvement category dropped from 16 percent to 15 percent, but 5 percent of students failed the math portion of the test in 2011 than in 2010. Finally, on the science test, needs improvment jumped a bit from 11 percent to 13 percent, and failing students increased from 3 percent to 4 percent.

However, less students overall in all three grade 10 tests scored in the "advanced" category. Twenty-six percent of 10th grade students scored advanced as compared to 28 percent in 2010 in English, 47 percent scored advanced in 10th grade math as compared to 62 percent in 2010, and 18 percent of students scored advanced in science as compared to 24 percent last year.

Wakefield Compared to State Results
Overall, grade 10 students in every category scored higher on their respective math, English and science tests than the average numbers throughout the state.

In Wakefield, 89 percent of 10th graders scored either proficient or advanced in English, compared to 84 percent in the state. Eighty percent of 10th grade students scored proficient or advanced in math, compared to 74 percent in the state. And 83 pecent of Wakefield students scored either proficient or advanced in science, compared to 67 percent in the state at large.

In the needs improvement section, Wakefield again outpaced the state. Eleven percent of Wakefield 10th graders scored either needs improvement or failing on the English exam in 2011, compared to 15 percent across the state. Twenty percent of Wakefield students scored needs improvement or failing on the math test in 2011, compared to 25 percent in the state. Finally, 17 percent of Wakefield students scored needs improvement or failing on the science test compared to 34 percent statewide.

To see the rest of the results from all grade levels in Wakefield - Grade 8, Grade 7, Grade 6, Grade 5, and Grade 4, and Grade 3 - click here.