Mass. students still struggle post-COVID, MCAS scores show
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Massachusetts schoolchildren continue to struggle with standardized testing more than five years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the latest MCAS results published Monday.
Why it matters: A higher percentage of Massachusetts students are struggling to read at grade level and struggle with core subjects like math and science, the scores suggest.
- The results come after voters in November approved a ballot measure that removed passing MCAS as a requirement for high school graduation.
Driving the news: Just 42% of students met expectations set under MCAS.
- Before the pandemic, it was closer to half of all students.
- State education officials say 63 districts reached pre-pandemic achievement levels for grades three through eight.
By the numbers: 42% of students in grades three through eight exceeded expectations statewide.
- That's slightly higher than last year, but still 10 percentage points below 2019 levels, the State House News Service reported.
- Meanwhile, 41% of all students in grades three through nine exceeded expectations.
- Test results for 10th graders were down overall last year.
What they're saying: "I have long suggested that recovery from the pandemic will be a process — not an event," Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler told reporters Monday.
Zoom in: A few school districts in mostly wealthier communities performed better on MCAS.
- Thirteen schools reached pre-pandemic achievement levels in English and math, including Amherst, Arlington, Pioneer Charter School of Science in Everett and Excel Academy Charter in Boston.
- 41 school districts reached pre-pandemic achievement levels in math only, while nine reached pre-pandemic achievement levels in English only.
What we're watching: The Healey administration's Statewide K–12 Graduation Council last week published a "vision" for what an ideal high school graduate would accomplish, but identified no alternatives for measuring whether a student is ready to graduate.