|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Student test scores in New Bedford and around Massachusetts have mostly flatlined or declined, according to the latest statewide testing data. And in the first year when 10th grade scores no longer would determine who graduates, far fewer of New Bedford’s high schoolers participated in these tests.
All 10th grade tests — math, science, and English Language Arts (ELA) — saw the lowest average scores since 2021. And only 86% of New Bedford high schoolers took the math test, while 90% took the ELA test. Statewide averages were 96% and 97% participation.
New Bedford’s participation on the 10th grade math test dropped 10 percentage points — one of the largest declines in any urban district.
Meanwhile, an average of scores in the lower grades, which combines elementary and middle school test results, were also mostly stagnant.
One bright spot was the 6th grade exams, where both the math and ELA scores outperformed last year’s numbers. The 8th grade ELA test in New Bedford also saw an increase in the average score.
“The statewide vote to eliminate passing MCAS as a graduation requirement has had a clear impact on both participation and test results,” said Joyce Cardoza, the principal of New Bedford High School.
“All but 13 districts across Massachusetts saw scores decrease, and there was also a substantial increase in unanswered questions and off-topic responses, including students simply writing ‘I don’t care.’ For many, the value of the test shifted when it was no longer tied directly to earning a diploma,” Cardoza said.
In other large districts, such as Fall River and Boston, high schoolers turned out at lower rates than last year, though they remain above their post-pandemic low-points for participation.
“At New Bedford High School, we are working to reestablish the importance of full participation by helping students and families understand that MCAS remains an essential measure of accountability, tied to scholarships and critical in guiding improvements to teaching and learning,” Cardoza said.
New Bedford Schools Superintendent Andrew O’Leary said that the district would look at individual schools and student groups, rather than these broad-based averages. He said that Taylor, Gomes, Campbell, and Swift elementary schools showed evidence of strong practices that could potentially be replicated around the district. He also said that AP scores at New Bedford High School were a positive indicator, despite the low MCAS results.
“The MCAS data is very important,” O’Leary said. “Some of it is very concerning and demands a strong strategy.”
O’Leary also commented on the attitude toward MCAS following last year’s ballot question. “I think the messaging statewide in the ballot question was that … MCAS was going away, or that MCAS doesn’t matter. As the parent of high schoolers and middle schoolers, I think MCAS is important. It’s one tool for families to work with their schools … I can use this tool to have a conversation with teachers and see what support we need.”
The statewide MCAS tests had been a graduation requirement in Massachusetts since 2003. Last November’s ballot measure upended the purpose of these tests for high schoolers by removing the 10th grade exams as a graduation requirement, making the tests into a pure administrative tool to track student progress.
MCAS tests have been shown to be a strong predictor of student success with less bias than other metrics, including classroom grades. Still, opponents of the exams in last year’s ballot measure pointed out that higher percentages of English language learners and students with disabilities struggled to pass the exams.
In New Bedford, 10th grade participation among low-income students and students with disabilities were markedly down this year. Only 80% of students with disabilities participated in this year’s 10th grade math test. Last year, 91% of New Bedford’s students with disabilities participated in the same test, making their decline in participation larger than the district’s overall.
Other demographic subgroups, including English learners, also participated at lower rates than statewide averages. However, New Bedford’s English learners participated at among the highest rate of any subgroup in New Bedford. In recent years, New Bedford’s English learners have tended to participate at or above the district average.
“I am optimistic that we’re going to be able to overcome this,” said state Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez in comments to reporters on Monday. He noted that the commonwealth has “no student group statewide that’s [reached] prepandemic levels of achievement.”
Superintendent O’Leary said that his presentation during the October School Committee meeting, on Monday, Oct. 6, would dig deeper into local results.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
The students of our community are being dumbed down because of their parents and the States DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ‘S FAR LEFT POLICIES. Our children are not being taught by their parents the importance of an EDUCATION. And the State not having any criteria for graduation. Our students are given a diploma and some can’t even read at a 8th grade level. Shame on the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
It is definitely sad to see these results, when more than 60% of our city’s budget is allocated to the school department.
Embarrassing
These results are pathetic and will be “progressive over time” locally and state wide.
“When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.” – Pearson’s Law
If students learned other knowledge and skills in place of the previous mandatory MCAS criteria, it would be useful to learn what that gain consists of and if it can be measured. Perhaps a local educator could write an op-ed to identify the benefits achieved by the elimination of the MCAS requirements. Few like teaching to the test (or learning for the test either), but as George W. Bush once so eloquently asked “Is our children learning?”.
Comments missing again!
I have a circle of personalities that view the articles together, we discuss, we comment, yet many of our comments don’t get posted!
NB Light does censor opinions that do not align with their thoughts or question the validity of their thoughts.