2001 MCAS results unveiled - Stoneham does better than expected, but some students still fail.
Published on November 7th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham Public School students scored better than experts predicted on the 2001 Massachusetts Comprehensive System (MCAS) tests, beating the state average in every subject at every grade.
Spartan success story
According to a Boston Globe ranking — using English and math scores for grades four, eight and 10 plus seventh grade English and sixth grade math — Stoneham ranked 49th out of 211 school districts. Stoneham improved from 58th out of 207 districts in 2000 when the Globe ranking computed English, math and science for grades four, eight and 10. Stoneham was also among 10 districts singled out by the Globe for scoring higher than predictions based on demographics (wealth and education of parents).
Graduation requirement
Of the 201 10th graders taking the test as a graduation requirement last spring, somewhere between 160 to 185 passed, depending on the overlap of math and English failure (the data is presented separately).
“Certainly our first priority is the students who need to retake the exam in December to qualify for graduation,” said Stoneham High School Principal Tom Ryan.
A grant funded program has already begun to prepare these students for the December retest and, if necessary, the May 2002 exam. Ryan said students will benefit from this small group help as well as from simply being in regular classes longer.
The Department of Education instituted the MCAS exam in 1998 to determine how well schools were implementing curricula mandated by state Education Reform. The Education Reform Act passed in 1993. And some of the frameworks are still being fine tuned; that’s why some tests are referred to as “tryout tests.” English and math remain the only MCAS subjects students must pass at the 10th grade level to graduate from Massachusetts public high schools.
In the spring of 2001 MCAS math and English exams were given to fourth, eighth and 10th grade students as well as tryout tests of third grade reading, fifth grade science and technology, sixth grade math, seventh grade English and eighth grade history and social science. (No data was released from the fifth grade exam.)
English and Math Program Supervisors, Pat Norelli and Michael Kennedy, should be proud of the strides made by Stoneham students in these crucial subjects.
“Besides dedicated teachers, program supervisors are the secret to our success,” Norelli said in an interview earlier this year. She said that a system with supervisors who teach only one or two classes and have ample time to develop and coordinate curriculum best prepare students for the MCAS. The numbers say she was right.
Voluntary, evening, Saturday and after school sessions of MCAS preparation are also a factor in the success of Stoneham students.
“The kids who took advantage of these opportunities improved their scores,” Ryan said.
The scores
Ninety-nine percent of Stoneham fourth graders passed English, 98 percent of seventh and eighth graders passed, and 92 percent of 10th graders passed. Although Stoneham’s 10th grade figures appear to indicate a decline in performance, the average scores in grades four, six and eight were all six points above the state average, whereas the 10th grade Stoneham score was 11 points better than the state average.
Ninety-nine percent of Stoneham third graders also passed a reading test, but so did 94 percent of students statewide.
Stoneham students passed the MCAS math test as follows: 96 percent of fourth graders passed as did 75 percent of sixth graders, 85 percent of eighth graders and 87 percent of 10th graders.
Stoneham introduced a new kindergarten through sixth grade math curriculum two years ago and last year added a seventh and eighth grade curriculum from the same publisher series, Scott Foresman.
“Now we’re much more consistent,” Kennedy said.
At the High School level this year, all freshmen who did not take algebra I as eighth graders are taking a full year of 90-minute a day classes to master algebra I before facing the 10th grade math MCAS test. These classes also include MCAS preparation.
“These are the students who traditionally have trouble,” Ryan said, explaining the school system’s proactive approach.
Seventy-three percent of Stoneham eighth graders passed the history and social science test, slightly better than the 70 percent statewide.
In every category and subject except sixth grade math and eighth grade science — areas where new curricula have recently been introduced — more than 50 percent of the Stoneham students are either proficient or advanced. In areas tested in 2000, an equal or greater number of students were in the advanced and proficient ranks in 2001, give or take one percent.
“I’m pleased that we’re making gains,” Ryan said.
See chart on schools page.
A warning
Parents and educators should remember that MCAS analysis can be misleading because comparisons made between different years or grade levels are comparing different students. And even comparisons of the same students — for example, 1999 eighth graders to 2001 10th graders — are affected by differences in the form and format of the tests and the fact that the first test didn’t count for anything while the second is a graduation requirement.
Looking good
But the growing number of students scoring in the advanced and proficient levels, the across the board increase in passing scores and the proactive programs to assist failing students and high achievers show that Stoneham students and Stoneham schools are making the grade.
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