During a review undergoing state testing, the latest MCAS scores remain stable

The latest MCAS results show little change at the state level, but they come at a time of considerable change in the way that Massachusetts assesses students and schools.

Only half of the students who took a new standardized test – the "MCAS 2.0", first administered in the spring of 2017 – "met or exceeded expectations". Despite some modest improvements over last year.

Until now, only primary and secondary students have passed this new test.

Grade 10 students, for whom a satisfactory MCAS grade is a graduation requirement, were still taking the "legacy" test – which dates back to 1993 – last spring.

Ninety-one percent of these students achieved "advanced" or "proficient" results in the English / language test section, while 78 and 74% scored one of these math test scores. and science, respectively. All of this is closely related to the averages of recent states.

Next spring will be the first year for high school students to pass the new, more rigorous test, even though the threshold for graduation has not yet been set.

This dilemma of double MCAS is just one sign that Massachusetts is in the midst of a complex and confusing transition in student and school assessment.

Under the 2015 federal law on school success, each state has been released to set up its own school accountability systems, but annual tests and a focus on academic achievement are still needed.

In Massachusetts, this paved the way for a new regime for selecting schools in trouble for state intervention.

Officials will eliminate the existing system of numbered "levels", in which level 1 represented one of the highest performing schools in the state and level 4, a targeted school for state recovery, mainly because of its poor results.

Beginning this year, Massachusetts officials will consider other factors, such as graduation rates and chronic absenteeism, in addition to test results that determine whether state objectives are met. are affected or not.

(A consortium of six school districts is currently experimenting with an even broader understanding of the quality of schools, and state officials say they monitor these experiences.)

This new and broader vision of school quality may leave some schools surprised by their classification. For example, the School MATCH Charter School – a Level 2 school in the old system, which meant that it met state standards – is now categorized as requiring support. targeted / targeted "because of its low graduation rate.

But state officials have warned against such comparisons.

Jeff Riley, the new commissioner for elementary and secondary education in the state, took the time to say that these new notes – and the accompanying classifications of accountability – should be seen as a new beginning.

Among the scores of the new MCAS test, Riley said, "It's not enough time to really determine what's going on, and that's why we're treating it as a real reference year." We're not trying to be too judgmental about it. "

To this end, Riley has decided to no longer designate schools as less successful based on this year's data – although four schools have managed to get out of the "turnaround" status because of their improved performance. These include John Winthrop Elementary School in Boston, Chestnut Accelerated Middle School and Milton Bradley Elementary School in Springfield and Elm Park Community School in Worcester.