WESTFIELD — Nearly nine in 10 high school sophomores passed the standardized Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam on their first try this year, said state education officials Friday, though achievement gaps persisted and several schools in the state’s largest cities were in danger of failing.
Passing the 10th-grade MCAS has been a graduation requirement for high school students for the past 11 years.
According to statewide scores released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), 88 percent of students in the class of 2016 met minimum testing requirements in English, mathematics and science.
The percentage was unchanged from a year ago, but up from 86 percent in 2012 and from 68 percent in 2003, the first year of the test.
The state also announced that six schools — three in Springfield, two in Boston and one in Worcester — had been added to the list of Level 4 “under performing” schools. Those schools must now develop turnaround plans and could be subject to a state takeover if they don’t demonstrate improvement.
Four schools that had previously been Level 4 were taken off the list after showing progress, including Boston’s Jeremiah Burke High School, two Springfield elementary schools and one Worcester elementary school.
Officials also said that the test scores show a narrowing of the achievement gap between white and minority students over the past seven years.
In 2007, 47 percent of black students, 43 percent of Latino students and 77 percent of white students scored proficient or higher in English. On the most recent tests, 79 percent of blacks, 76 percent of Latinos and 94 percent of whites were proficient or higher.
In math, however, the differences remained more pronounced.
Gov. Deval Patrick, in a statement, credited the overall improvement on collaborative efforts between schools and students, but said that “as achievement gaps still persist, we must continue to invest in education so that each student has the chance to succeed.”
Officials expressed renewed concern about the glaring lack of improvement in reading scores on MCAS exams taken by younger students. The percentages of third- and fourth-graders scoring proficient or higher on the test had actually dropped slightly from 2007.
“This is an area we are very much focused on,” said Mitchell Chester, the state’s education commissioner.
Chester also noted that four middle schools currently designated as Level 4 — one in Boston and three others in Springfield — had not shown an “improvement trajectory” and were in imminent danger of sinking from Level 4 to Level 5 and into possible receivership.
Lawrence is the state’s only school district currently in receivership, though Chester said test scores pointed to improvement in that city.
About 80,000 students in Massachusetts participated in a tryout of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test this year, Mitchell said, as the state continued its implementation of Common Core academic standards.
In 2015, school districts will have the option of administering PARCC or MCAS for students in Grades 3-9 and Grade 11, but all 10th graders will still be required to take MCAS.
In Westfield, MCAS scores ran the full spectrum in English/language arts, math and science.
Abner Gibbs Elementary saw improvements in three of the four testing areas, with Franklin Avenue Elementary improving in four of four and Highland Elementary improving in two of four.
Juniper Park improved in one of two testing areas, while Munger Hill Elementary improved in one of three.
Paper Mill and Southampton Road Elementary Schools saw improvements in three categories, while North and South Middle Schools saw either small improvements or no change in their testing.
Both city high schools, Westfield Vocational-Technical High School and Westfield High, each either improved or stayed at their 2013 levels for both of their testing categories.
On the science portion of the test, seven of the district’s 11 schools saw improvements on the test, with one school remaining at the same level as last year and two declining in performance.
Math scores in the city saw large declines throughout the city’s schools, but remained stagnant at the secondary school level, with Westfield High School and Westfield Voc-Tech seeing no change in performance.
“We’re making progress. We’re definitely moving in the right direction,” said Westfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Suzanne Scallion, who added she was very pleased by the city’s cohort growth, which measures the test scores of the same students year over year and stated that there are certain factors that adversely impacted the district’s lowest performing schools.
“We have grown the number of special education programs district-wide, but at Munger Hill, we now have five different classes there of students with disabilities,” she said before referencing Munger Hill’s math cohort over the past three year years.
“As third graders, they were 28 percent advanced. Last year, they were 45 percent advanced and this year, they were 55 percent advanced,” Scallion said. “You’re happy with a three percent gain, but to see a 27 percent gain over two years is just outstanding.”
Scallion said the district needs to continue putting great effort into improving the programs for its students with disabilities.
“We’re not seeing the progress that we need to see in special education, but we’re also keeping more of our kids with extensive needs in the district,” she said, adding that this year’s data is based on performances on last year’s test.
She added that Munger Hill Elementary had the highest scores in the district for a while, but schools that were struggling during that same time frame such as Franklin Avenue are “on a tear” with its MCAS testing.
“Some of the CPI (composite performance index) scores, Voke leads the way and Franklin is second, but that is about their performance compared to the prior year,” Scallion said. “That (growth) is exactly what we want to see in our schools that have been characterized by low scores – that iswhere we want to see a breakthrough.”
The district efforts to finally align itself to the 2011 state standards has also had a negative effect on this year’s data for fourth- and fifth-graders, according to Scallion.
“This is the first year that those kids will be learning with aligned curriculum materials,” she said, adding that realigning the entire district to state standards in 2011 would have most likely required a special bond to pay for it. “I knew we weren’t going to have pretty scores in fourth and fifth grade but we started it in kindergarten, and those kids are now second graders, but they don’t take MCAS.”
“In the fall of ’16, we will have our first set of MCAS on kids who started on the current state standards,” she said.
Scallion said that only two students failed the test at the high school and the presence of such a low number proves the district is on the right track and focused on the “end product.”
“The year-to-year data is important because it tells about our programs. We want to be sure that our kids can pass the MCAS when they get to the high school,” she said.
Scallion listed Westfield Voc-Tech as the district’s CPI leader, charting at an 89, with Westfield High School coming in second, and Franklin Avenue Elementary and Southampton Road Elementary rounding out the top four.
“You want to see a 40 or better,” said Scallion. “But at some point we’re going to max out some of our schools, when we have 90 percent of our schools scoring ‘advanced.'”
Scallion gave Paper Mill Elementary high marks as well, but expressed concern over the city’s middle schools.
“When our students hit sixth grade and were coming out of different programs in the city’s elementary schools, the sixth grade teachers had to manage a wide range of skills and needs,” she said. “I think you’ll see nothing but improvement from the middle schools. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Scallion said she saw a direct correlation between the city’s scores and its investments.
“Where we have in fact put resources in place, we’re seeing great results,” she said.
Regarding any changes in the academic status of the district’s schools, Scallion stated that she didn’t think there had been any movement.
“I don’t think we had any changes in the levels this year,” she said. “We were really hoping that Voke would’ve popped up a level, but we may have had some erroneous data in our dropout rate.”
Scallion explained that the school’s dropout rate was extracted from a district data poll that was done last October.
“Other than that, we met every target for Voke to go to level two. They’re on fire and we’re very excited. The high school is on the fly, too,” she said. “I expect an enormous jump at the high school in the years to come because of our partnership with MMSI (Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative).”
“Exciting things are happening all over,” Scallion concluded. “If you look at a patient recovering from strep throat, you’re going to still expect to see the throat red with a fever. We’re making progress and definitely moving in the right direction.
It’s been a lot of hard work and investment by the city.”
