The school committee was provided an overview of student performance at their October 8th meeting in Montgomery. As in past years, the focus was on MCAS performance but also included some review of upcoming changes in assessment that will provide a much broader, and potentially more relevant, look at how well our students and schools are performing. The entire presentation will be put on the district’s website, although without the detailed commentary from the principals and teachers that presented the information.
Unfortunately the district remains a level 3 district (meaning that at least one school was designated a level 3 school), even through Chester Elementary moved up in its rating. As Mrs. Coburn discussed while showing nearly identical performance and growth measures on last year’s MCAS tests at Chester and Littleville, Littleville remained a level 3 school and Chester moved to a level 1 school. As Mrs. Coburn explained, each school in the state is put into a ‘similar’ group of schools based upon several factors including the percent of free and reduced students, the percent of students whose primary language is not English, and the percent of students needing special services. Those defining characteristics meant that Chester was put into a group of somewhat similar schools (Savoy, Wales, Quabbin, Frontier Regional) but that Littleville was put into a group that appear to be somewhat different (Cambridge, Lynn, Peabody, Stoneham). As schools are rated only within their assigned groups, you can end up with similar performance by students but very different rankings by the state.
Mr. Finnie also pointed out that schools are grouped by grade level but that this isn’t a perfect one to one match, i.e., some districts have elementary schools that are K-6 and others may be K-3. With statewide performance on the fourth and seventh grade MCAS tests being generally lower than the other years, having a different number of grades in schools being compared can also skew results. Thus the Junior High School, only having two grades, is often compared to middle schools having up to four grade levels.
The state also does not use size, per pupil expenditures, or location to further determine ‘like’ schools, which potentially further skews the results. As part of the state’s ongoing efforts to improve education, a new teacher and administrator evaluation process is being finalized. This process includes measures of student growth above and beyond MCAS, known as District Determined Measures (or DDM’s), as well as gathering feedback from students, families, and others. As these are put into place, schools will have yet more measures of student performance which in many cases will not be tied to a once a year, high stakes, written test thereby potentially allowing many students to prove their acquisition of knowledge and skills in a more ‘real-world’ setting.
Given what many employers are seeking – the ability to collaborate, to communicate, and to problem solve – additional measures of student performance are certainly needed. This is not to say that additional measures haven’t been used in the past, after all report cards generally measure more than just test performance, and colleges are very interested in an applicant’s participation in sports, extracurricular activities (such as clubs, leadership positions), the arts (including the performing arts), and volunteer participation in the communities. However, for the most part, schools have not been tracking these activities in any manner that would allow them to show ‘growth’ in these activities over time. This may be an area for us to consider as, despite our students’ success at getting into some very prestigious colleges, we need a means of ensuring that we’re meeting the needs of all students, including those that opt to join the workforce or the military after high school graduation.
