WESTFIELD – Last night, the Westfield School Committee addressed the results of some of the district’s schools on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test.
The district saw a bounce in performance on the test citywide.
Given to all public school students in the Commonwealth as a requirement of the state’s Education Reform Act of 1993, a passing grade on the MCAS as a tenth grader is required to earn a diploma from a public high school in the Bay State.
Abner Gibbs and Franklin Avenue Principals Margaret Adams and Leslie Clark-Yvon, respectively, spoke on behalf of the improvements of their institutions.
“Since last year our enrollment has increased 25 percent,” said Adams of her school. “But even with that increase, we’ve made some incredible gains in math and ELA (English Langauge Arts).”
Adams said that programs implemented through the Bay State Reading Institute, such as the Reading Street program for its third graders, System 44, and Read 180, in addition to changes in data collection that are “easier to understand and manage,” have been of great benefit to her students.
“Last year, every student in our school identified a personal goal, they made an action step, and they monitored their progress. They had ownership of their goals and their scores showed that,” she said.
Adams added that the school is continuing to work on its writing in open response and composition.
“Our goal is to add one point on every open response question, which would make an enormous difference,” she said, adding that students’ growth percentile at Abner Gibbs went up 40 percent in mathematics which has Adams and her staff “dancing a jig.”
“At Franklin, you’ll notice that the student growth percentile, particularly in math, rose 38 points,” said Clark-Yvon. “We’re very pleased with that. We’re not as happy with our English Language Arts.”
Throughout the evening, writing, and science and technology, were found to be areas both schools need to improve upon. Data given to committee members indicated four year trends of 37 and 10 point increases in the “Needs Improvement” category in third and fourth grade ELA at Franklin Avenue, coupled with three and 13 point increases over four years in fourth grade mathematics and fifth grade science and technology, respectively.
Abner Gibbs saw a seven point four year increase in the “Needs Improvement” category in third grade ELA, along with a 33 point increase over four years in fifth grade science and technology.
Clark-Yvon explained that the drop off from third to fourth grade performance.
“Two things happen: the long writing composition comes in, and the open response writing is much more intensive,” she said, which explains the drop-offs in the “Advanced” and “Proficient” ELA categories at the school.
Clark-Yvon added that the school would also be undergoing a pilot implementation of Reading Street in the fourth and fifth grades, to go along with its second year in kindergarten through second grade and a district wide implementation in the third grade.
The school will continue emphasizing the use of computer programs designed to build academic skills and increase emphasis on open response questions and writing to text, as well as “stamina in academic work.”
“Over the years, free and reduced lunches have increased at both schools, but the scores have improved,” committee member Cindy Sullivan added after perusing the data. “So it goes to show that, if kids are given proper tools and curriculum and if you raise the bar, they will meet it. I know that’s hard.”
“Clearly we have lots to celebrate,” said Scallion. “We’re very proud of the work of our staff and our kids. Nearly ten percent of our students at each grade level moved to the ‘Advanced’ level, and that is exceptional work.”
Scallion said that similar results occurred in kindergarten through second grade literacy, as well recognizing “great gains” which were made in middle and high schools in the district. That specific data will be shared as “we go forward.”
Scallion also recapped a recent trip with Paper Mill Elementary Principal Susan Dargie and Highland Elementary Principal James Kane to Utah, in which Westfield Public Schools were named a “best practice model” by an international group of superintendents.
“We’ve been doing a significant amount of analysis of our MCAS scores, and we’ve found that, just a year ago, 30 percent of our English language learners were failing,” Scallion said. “This year, there were zero. Thirty percent to zero. That’s because of the fidelity of which our staff has worked following the standards and the great tools we’ve given to support our learners.”
Following the meeting, members of the committee shared their thoughts on the district’s 2013 showing.
“They show improvement,” said Ray Diaz. “They have a ways to go, but it’s a really good start.”
Diaz said he has seen big improvements in his own children’s performance.
“What we’re looking for is progress, and we’re making it.” he said.
Though he said the district plans to drop the MCAS next year, committee member Bill Duval believes the district’s students are rising to the challenge thanks to work being done with additional programs.
“What’s going on is that (these programs) are having a positive impact on students,” said Duval, a former Professor of Psychology at Westfield State University. “No failures for one entire grade?”
He also credited Superintendent Scallion with instituting new reading programs at schools such as Highland Elementary, a school with a large population of ESL students, as well as other measures.
“Bringing professional development days in house has set up a new dialogue between teachers in our district,” he said.
