MCAS Report for 2005

BOSTON - Results for the 2005 MCAS exams released today showed that students in the Boston Public Schools demonstrated greater improvement at both Grade 6 math and Grade 8 science than their peers statewide.

Overall, the results in Boston showed a combination of slight increases and slight decreases over the results from 2004, but were still better than in almost any other year that the test has been administered since 1998.

The percent of BPS students scoring in Advanced and Proficient was the second highest in eight years in almost all grades and all subjects, falling just below the 2004 levels. Also, the percent of students scoring in the Warning/Failing category was the second lowest in eight years for almost all grades in all subjects, again, falling just below the 2004 rates.

Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant pointed out that the district had seen steady improvement every year since 1998 culminating with record high results in 2004 and that data analysis suggests even with steady improvement there will be slight variances in performance.

"We understand that the skills and knowledge needed to do well on MCAS are the same skills and knowledge needed to succeed in higher education and careers," Superintendent Payzant said. "The best part of the MCAS is that it presents a tremendous amount of data on the individual student level. We use that data to work with schools and teachers to determine areas for targeted assistance and specialized professional development."

"Our goal is proficiency for all students in the Boston Public Schools," School Committee Chair Elizabeth Reilinger said. "Superintendent Payzant and his staff are working to identify areas where extra work is needed to accelerate the improvement of all students. The School Committee is committed to providing resources to support that work to ensure that our students are receiving the high quality instruction they need to reach proficiency."

The school department is undertaking a rigorous review of school-by-school results to identify areas of strong performance, which can be shared, and areas where action may be needed to allow for greater improvement.

While the results were mixed overall for 2005, when compared to 1998, the passing rate in math increased from 43% to 67% at grade 4, from 29% to 50% at grade 8 and from 25% to 70% in grade 10.

But the goal is proficiency. When compared to 1998, the percent of students scoring at Proficient or above in math has increased from 8% to 21% in grade 4, 14% to 23% in grade 8 and 13% to 40% in grade 10.

There were other areas where improvement was evident. On the Grade 6 math test, 23% of students scored in the Proficient and Advanced categories in 2005 as compared to 18% in 2004, and 14% in 2001 when the test was first administered, while the percent scoring at the Warning category declined to 49% in 2005 from 53% in 2004 and 63% in 2001.

On the Grade 8 science test, the percent of students scoring in the Warning category dropped from to 58% in 2005 from 63% in 2004 and 2003, the first year the test was administered. The percent scoring at Proficient and Advanced was 10%, the same as in 2004 and up slightly from 2003.

Read the complete BPS MCAS Report for 2005