Published November 14, 2019
By JILLIAN STRING
NORTH READING — Accountability and MCAS were the focus of Assistant Superintendent Patrick Daly’s presentation to the School Committee November 4.
Daly reminded the committee that this is only the second year of the new accountability system, and there were some changes for 2019.
According to Daly, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) held sessions for administrators to enable them provide feedback. “They had surveys, and they did reflect a lot of the things we had said and we did see some of those changes presented here,” Daly said.
Daly stated the changes included the use of weighted data from 2018 (40%) and 2019 (60%), subgroup participation calculated for all subjects combined, and tracking progress using the four categories: Meeting or Exceeding Targets, Substantial Progress Toward Targets, Moderate Progress Toward Targets, and Limited or No Progress Toward Targets.
The system groups elementary and middle schools (non-high schools) together to measure achievement, student growth, English language proficiency, and chronic absenteeism, Daly explained. In addition to these measures, high schools evaluate high school completion information and advanced coursework completion.
Each category can be weighted with English Language Learners (ELL) or without. Daly noted that North Reading falls in the “without” category.
Daly explained that another key component of the accountability system allots 50 percent of the district’s score for all students and the other 50 percent for the lowest performing students.
“Within each category, there are four points. Targets are set,” Daly said.
Four points are earned if a district exceeded its target, three points are earned if it met the target, two points are earned if the district improved, one point is given for no change in progress, and a zero is assessed if the district’s progress declines.
A weighted percentage is calculated from these points to enable DESE to assess which districts are Meeting Targets (75-100%) or Partially Meeting Targets (0-74%).
Those districts receiving percentages from 1-10 will receive focused/targeted support, and chronic underperforming schools will receive broad comprehensive support.
Schools demonstrating high achievement, significant improvement, or high growth are noted as Schools of Recognition.
“Very high and very good” scores
Daly reported that all of the town’s three elementary schools scored in the Meeting or Exceeding Targets range, while both North Reading Middle School (NRMS) and North Reading High School (NRHS) scored in the Substantial Progress Toward Targets range.
Accountability percentiles for each school were as follows: Batchelder 99, Hood 95, Little 89, NRMS 78, NRHS 84.
“The scores are very high and very good,” Daly emphasized.
Commendations of note
Daly reported that 67 out of 1,846 schools in Massachusetts received School of Recognition honors.
Locally, the L.D. Batchelder School was recognized for high achievement and exceeding targets in both 2018 and 2019.
According to Daly, the J.T. Hood School was number four in the state for fifth-graders who scored as Meeting or Exceeding Expectations on the Science Technology/Engineering MCAS exam.
MCAS data for 2019
Daly reported that all exams will be computer based in 2020. “Last year we were able to pilot, in a way that was not possible with paper, having multiple grade levels testing on the same day,” he said.
“We’re fairly confident at the middle school that we might be able to get two, if not all three, grades testing on the same days,” Daly added.
Daly provided the School Committee with an overview of the district’s 2019 MCAS data as follows:
For Grade 3 ELA, 80 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 56 percent at the state level.
Grade 3 Math results showed 78 percent Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 49 percent at the state level.
For Grade 4, 78 percent Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to the state’s 52 percent.
In Math, 75 percent of Grade 4 students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to the state’s 50 percent.
Grade 5 ELA results showed 82 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 52 percent at the state level.
For Grade 5 Math, 75 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to the state’s 48 percent.
The Grade 5 Science and Technology/Engineering exam showed 86 percent of students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations compared to 49 percent at the state level.
For Grade 6 ELA, 76 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 53 percent at the state level.
Grade 6 Math results showed 82 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 52 percent at the state level.
Grade 7 ELA results showed 58 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to the state’s 48 percent.
In Math, 62 percent of Grade 7 students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 48 percent at the state level.
For Grade 8 ELA, 73 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to the state’s 52 percent.
Grade 8 Math scores showed 64 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to the state’s 46 percent.
The Grade 8 Science and Technology/Engineering exam showed 63 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 46 percent at the state level.
Grade 10 ELA results showed 78 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared with 61 percent at the state level.
In Math, 75 percent of students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 59 percent at the state level.
For Science and Technology/Engineering, 89 percent of Grade 10 students Met or Exceeded Expectations compared to 74 percent at the state level.
Community-wide effort praised
Committee Chairman Scott Buckley stated that is was good for the district to be acknowledged for its hard work.
“I want to thank (Daly) for his presentation that he did tonight,” Superintendent Jon Bernard commented.
“I also just want to acknowledge that, as a district, there’s an awful lot to be proud of here,” Bernard stressed.
“I want to just publicly acknowledge the effort that people put forth, teachers, support staff, the students themselves, the cooperation that we receive from the home from parents working with their children – and they’re really stressing that the child’s primary purpose is to come to school and learn, and be prepared when they come here – and our administration. All are to be commended,” the superintendent said.