FYI from BSF, 09.22.23
The release of the 2023 MCAS results at Tuesday’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) meeting produced two competing narratives. The first, supported by comments by Commissioner Riley and staff, was one of momentum, highlighting evidence of academic recovery. The other narrative viewed the data through pre-2020 glasses, asserting that results had not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Both are right.
It is clear across assessments in grades 3-8 and 10, there is a general rise in proficiency rates from 2020. Grade 3-8 Math is a good example.
But adding in one more year - 2019, specifically - to the x-axis reveals the more complete trend.
Of course, averages never tell the whole story. There is a lot of variance that composes the smooth lines above.
Some of that variance is positive. Things appear to be moving quickly in Cambridge. Massachusetts Black 10th grade ELA proficiency has already surpassed pre-pandemic levels (slide 4).
Some of that variance is less positive. All claims of recovery are skewed by class. Higher-income students are past the 2019 baseline; low income students have lost ground. This is true state-wide, and particularly evident in Boston, where the pandemic has increased achievement gaps.
The limitation of this sort of analysis is that we are not talking about the same children. We are comparing, for example, the performance of 10th graders last spring versus a different group of 10th graders several years ago. To see the potential impacts of the pandemic - and the infusion of billions of federal dollars - it may make more sense to track students over time.
Without access to student-level data, such a cohort analysis is not perfect (some kids changed schools, families move, etc.), but it tells you something.
Most Massachusetts 10th graders, who will sit for an exam this spring that still serves as a graduation requirement, have declined in their proficiency through elementary and middle school.
Every day, time and money is running out, time and money that should be meeting the exceptional needs of children at this moment.
The costs of not addressing this are compounding.
Notes in the Margin
Progress on BPS bathroom renovations will be discussed at the October meeting BESE meeting. Particularly active body right now. In addition to the MCAS release, this past Tuesday we saw public comment from Mayor Wu, a deep dive discussion into the role of MCAS in graduation rates (with some political subtext), and the adoption of new health and sexual education standards for the first time in a generation. Full agenda here.
~60 schools in Massachusetts were highlighted for MCAS performance and growth; 4 of the 5 Boston schools named are our partner schools. 275 Massachusetts schools were identified as needing state assistance or intervention; 50 Boston schools are on the list. 7 Massachusetts schools earned national recognition as a Blue Ribbon School. Holyoke wants out of receivership.
BPS valedictorians receive continued support.
A renovated White Stadium - with shared use with BPS - is closer to a reality with the approval a Boston-based professional women’s soccer team.
Many Massachusetts school districts have heeded state guidance and are limiting cell phone use. Teenagers’ social media use is profiled in the New York Times, and appears in teens’ own words in a Globe profile.
A slight bump in Massachusetts birth rates in 2021 could lift some spirits around enrollment issues in schools; net migration from Massachusetts and big math like this brings it right back down to earth.
A different take on standardized testing like the SAT - keep it, but don’t time it.
More Massachusetts high school graduates is not translating to more Massachusetts undergraduates.
The Commonwealth’s Board of Higher Education has three new members.
Other Matters
Red Sox season ends next week, but this video will last a lot longer.
