East Longmeadow MCAS scores illustrate improvements and challenges

Date: 10/9/2014

EAST LONGMEADOW – The latest round of Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) scores showed improvements to science and English language arts (ELA), but challenges in mathematics for East Longmeadow Public Schools.

The school district’s leadership team revealed the results of last year’s tests at the School Committee’s Oct. 6 meeting.    

“We’re still seeing that math is an area that needs to be focused on,” Superintendent of Schools Gordon Smith said. “That’s really across a few grade levels, across the district. If you look just at our aggregate, we had no real change in our aggregate score.”

The district’s progress and performance index (PPI) score this year is 68, Smith said. PPI is an annual aggregate score that represents the district’s average composite performance index (CPI) scores, dropout rates, and cohort graduation rates. The district receives 100 points for being above the target goal, 75 for being on target, 50 for below target scores, and zero for a decline, he explained.

This year’s PPI score is an improvement from last year.

The PPI contributes to a district’s accountability and assistance level. The school district is currently a level two, with a level one high school, he stated.

 “Each year is weighted from 2011 going out and then they come up with a cumulative PPI for your district,” Smith noted. “The goal obviously is to continue to reduce the proficiency gap and hit your target.”

The target goal is unique for every district, Smith added. The 2014 MCAS CPI scores for the district this year are 91.6 in ELA, 81.8 in math, and 85.9 in science. The 2015 target goals are 94.3 in ELA, 88.2 for math, and 87.9 in science.

“We did see, in some grade levels, an increase of students in warning or failing categories in ELA and math,” Smith said.

Curriculum Director Valerie Annear said collectively as a district the mathematics program had to be revamped to adopt the Common Core State Standards.

“Our hope is that once that’s aligned and our curriculum is reflective of what needs to get done with the help of the common assessments that we’re doing,” she explained. “I think we have a really good chance of hitting [target goals].”

Smith said the district showed improvements with students answering open response questions. In the past few years, there were a large number of students who did not answer questions, which resulted in zero grades for open responses.

“As grading has become more stringent, you can actually write some information down and start to respond,” he explained. “But if it has no connection to the actual question, you lose points.”

Annear said the Common Core requires students to be much more critical in their thinking.

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) test, which may be implemented throughout the Commonwealth pending a vote from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in fall 2015, also aligns with the Common Core standards.

The district is above or on par with the state in all grade levels in ELA, Smith stated. The district is five percentage points above the state in grade 5 ELA, eight percentage above the state in math, and five percentage points above the state in short answer math questions.

Third grade math MCAS results saw a 5 percent increase in warning and failures, he said. Also, fourth grade warning and failures in math increased by 4 percent.

“Yes, you’re seeing some in the warning and failing but your also moving some of your students to advanced,” he added.

Timothy Allen, principal of Birchland Park Middle School, said depending on MCAS scores, the achievement gap could widen, remain the same, or narrow.

“I think there’s a chance that we’ll continue to improve,” Smith said. “I think we’ve already started to dig into the data so that we’re very aware of where our struggles are and what particular standards, as well as what particular grade levels.”