By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
9/24/09
The state has identified the Collicot and Glover elementary schools as needing improvement on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam. For the second year in a row, some student groups at both schools came in below the state average on the spring MCAS. The test scores released last week show that students at the schools are falling behind state benchmarks in both the math and English portions. Of particular concern are the special education, low-income and black subgroups.
Tucker Elementary School, which appeared on the state’s needs-improvement list last year, made some progress – with students scoring above the state average in math, but some continuing to struggle in the English portion.
School Superintendent Mary Gormley said her staff is already beginning to strategize how to improve the targeted areas.
“We have met twice as a team. As I tell our teachers from kindergarten to the high school, everyone’s responsible for this information,” she said.
The superintendent intends to make a public presentation of MCAS results to the School Committee when it meets Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Milton High School library. Gormley said at future meetings, she would introduce specific ways to bridge the achievement gaps.
“There are still identified achievement gaps. We have issues and areas we have identified to work on. In several areas, progress has been made,” Gormley said.
School Committee members contacted for this story had yet to review the MCAS scores.
Last year, the School Department successfully petitioned Town Meeting midyear for additional funding to handle MCAS issues. The money went to hiring teachers for Pierce Middle School and Tucker, the two schools that were then on the state’s needs-improvement list.
Gormley said the results were “clear” and “phenomenal.”
This year’s test scores for Pierce do show improvement. Last year, special education, low-income and black student subgroups were all below the state average: this year, only the special education students remain there.
“We’re working in a positive direction,” Gormley said.
One program designed to assist Pierce students in need last year was Saturday-morning education, funded by the Copeland Foundation. The program was only for the one year but school officials are hoping to receive a grant to maintain it.
Meanwhile, Milton High students continue to score above the state average on the MCAS. On the English portion, 90 percent scored in the advanced or proficient range. On the math portion, 78 percent were in the same range.
However, unlike in prior years, black students dipped below the state average, the only subgroup to do so.
Overall, MCAS results show that the district as a whole fares well when compared to state averages. More students across all grade levels placed in proficient or advanced ranges – and less in the warning or needs improvement ranges – than did the state’s average scores.
(The MCAS charts will run in the Oct. 1 issue of the Times.)