MCAS scores released in September show that Bromfield continues to rank at the top or among the top few schools in English, math, and this year in the new science test. Scores in 10th-grade English and math ranked number one out of 341 schools participating in the test. Eighth-grade English scores ranked second out of 462 schools.
At the elementary school level, this year third-grade reading scores ranked 69 out of 1,103 schools participating in the tests; math scores ranked 348 out of 1,013. Over the years Harvard’s third grade has seen the greatest vacillation in scores. Last year, scores were up; this year the scores are similar to what they were in 2006. Rankings aside, scores showed that 84 percent of third-graders scored at the “proficient” level or higher in reading; 79 percent scored “proficient” or higher in math.
Scores for grade four show a fourth consecutive year of growth in English. This year fourth-grade English scores ranked 155 out of 996; fifth-grade English scores ranked 25 out of 929.
Speaking of the scores in a recent interview, Superintendent Tom Jefferson said, “Most are great, some are mediocre. Overall, one has to be impressed with the hard work of Harvard teachers and students.”
He went on to say that in looking at trends, we “continue to be at or near the top in a lot of areas.”
In Jefferson’s view, third-grade scores are not a reliable measure of ability, given the age of the students. He emphasized that the elementary school scores need to be put in context.
“Who cares who’s winning in the third inning?” he said, using a baseball analogy.
The lower-grade tests are part of a learning process that culminates in the 10th grade, where MCAS testing counts for graduation. This is the point at which the students take the test seriously and where the results are reliable, he said.
Jefferson emphasized that the MCAS data was never designed to rank schools or districts. Rather, it is information that can be used to help schools identify weaknesses and to re-align curriculum, review pacing of material, and provide support services for groups and individuals.
He said, “We use every piece of data for reflection on how we’re doing.”
Over the years several innovations have been put in place, he said, mostly at the elementary school, based on analysis of student performance on MCAS. Programs have been instituted so that there are tiers of intervention at the fourth and fifth grades. Principal Mary Beth Banios has worked with teachers and curriculum coordinators to make sure curriculum timelines are in line with the test. A few years ago MCAS math scores suggested there might be a curriculum disconnect between the fifth and sixth grades. Teachers and administrators met to clarify what concepts would be taught at each level. According to Jefferson, “They ironed out any disconnects there might have been in crossing the street.”
This year an intervention block has been added to the schedule at the elementary school. Previously, classroom instruction was interrupted as various students left the room for different services. With this added block at each grade level, one time period accommodates the whole range of group and individual extras. Jefferson said that with this new schedule, special services are supplementing rather than supplanting classroom instruction.
The most immediate goal to come out of this year’s MCAS results is to create strategies to move more upper elementary school children into the “advanced’ levels on the math test, Jefferson said, adding that one way to do this is more pre-testing. If students are already proficient, they can do something else while others work on needed skills, he noted.
Complete MCAS results can be found at www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/results.html.