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Date: 10/12/2021
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Across the state, school districts have received their Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) results. Currently in West Springfield, they are analyzing the data and working to develop an understanding of what these results mean for the district as a whole, along with each individual student.
Curriculum Director Dr. Neil Gile said that based on the framework and construct, his initial thought was that the data across the board of state and school levels was not surprising. “Everyone was anticipating an impact in test scores,” he claimed.
“Number sense has certainly been an area that caught our attention,” added Gile.
He believes that the pandemic without a doubt had an impact on the MCAS test scores. Based on the “interrupted learning,” referring to being in-person, remote and then hybrid, Gile said there were a lot of inconsistencies. “Inconsistencies impacted student learning. We want to be consistent. Students thrive on consistency.”
Across Massachusetts, Gile said these results were expected. They experienced drops in test results compared to previous years, however West Springfield’s results are “parallel” to other towns and cities. “On a state level, [we are] recognizing that,” said Gile.
Now that the data is received, Gile said they’ll ask themselves, “What are we doing with the data?” “Triangulating data is important to us,” he said. This allows for the district to identify trends.
Gile told Reminder Publishing that K-8 students take assessments in the beginning, middle and end of the year to determine their learning levels. The district then takes these results and compares them to the MCAS data. Gile said this allows for them to see where students are performing well and/or areas that need improvement.
Each of the West Springfield schools has a data team that is guided by their principal. These teams are responsible for determining what exactly needs to be worked on.
We have and are accustomed to doing testing at the elementary level,” said Gile. Last year, West Springfield Public Schools instituted a K-8 universal screening tool known as i-Ready. i-Ready is a state recognized assessment tool that is used for testing reading and mathematics. With this testing, they are able to look at the data through a district lens. Gile said, “A lot [is] coming out at the state level that’s been beneficial to us.”
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)’s Acceleration Roadmap has also been utilized and beneficial in West Side. According to DESE’s website, “The Acceleration Roadmap is a tool for teachers and leaders in Massachusetts to support acceleration of student learning in the 2021-22 school year … This roadmap is designed to provide a focused and phased approach to supporting students as they return to school in the new academic year.”
Gile explained that the roadmap is broken down into three parts: a sense of belonging, monitoring student progress and ensuring strong instruction.
Over the summer months, Gile said the schools worked collaboratively on this to see what each school is doing to achieve the roadmap goals. For instance, “Identifying what data points we should subscribe to, to keep an eye on each child,” added Gile.
“Teams have done a good job at visiting those best practices. [It] provides us with an opportunity around really important things.”
Moving forward, Gile said, “We need to utilize frequent assessment data to develop understanding.” To ensure this, testing will continue for students in the beginning, middle and end of the year.
“The work that the principals and teachers are doing is extraordinary and [I] couldn’t be prouder. It’s a unique time and they’re really stepping up and rising to the challenge,” concluded Gile.
West Springfield’s end goal of interpreting the MCAS data is to prioritize the standards, he said.
To view the MCAS results, visit the Massachusetts Department of Education Website: https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/nextgenmcas.aspx.
Specific information and previous results for comparison can be found on each district’s profile at https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/.