By GAIL LOWE
WAKEFIELD — The latest round of MCAS test results have been released and show some gains have been made by Wakefield students. Unfortunately, there have been some setbacks as well.
For instance, the Grade 10 Science and Technology/Engineering (STEM) score in the Advanced category showed a 14 percentage point gain over last year. But Grade 10 English Language Arts in the Advanced category showed a seven point drop from last year and an eight point drop in the Proficient category.
In the Proficient category, there was a 12 point gain in Grade 8 English Language Arts over last year but a four point dip in Grade 8 Mathematics. English Language Arts also showed a dip of eight points in the Proficiency category in Grade 6 and in the Needs Improvement category, the number rose by eight points over last year.
Grade 3 Mathematics shows a 10 point gain in the Proficient category over last year’s number but a four point slip in English Language Arts for the same grade.
Superintendent Schools Dr. Stephen K. Zrike is now in the process of analyzing the numbers and plans to speak more on the subject at a future school board meeting.
In spite of some decreases, Zrike is encouraged by the results and commented: “A preliminary review of Wakefield’s MCAS data is encouraging as we saw increases in Proficiency percentages from academic year 2012 -2013 to academic year 2013-2014 out of 17 MCAS assessments administered in Grades 3 through 10. Our district remains a Level 2 and our schools maintained their previous accountability rating. The MCAS continues to be one of the many data points that we examine/analyze in our efforts to achieve excellence across the district.”
Next year PARCC testing, which aligns with the Common Core standards, will replace the MCAS.
See the numbers below for the breakdown in results:
Grade 10 English/Language Arts: Advanced 46 (53 in 2013), Proficient 50 (42 in 2013), Needs Improvement 4 (2 in 2013) and Failing 1 (3 in 2013).
Statewide, students in Wakefield achieved 5 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 5 points higher in Advanced, 2 points higher in Proficient, 4 points lower in Needs Improvement and 2 points lower in Warning.
Grade 10 Mathematics: Advanced 64 (61 in 2013), Proficient 24 (26 in 2013), Needs Improvement 9 (even with 2013) and Failing 3 (4 in 2013).
Statewide: 9 points higher in Proficient or Higher category, 11 points higher in Advanced, 1 point lower in Proficient, 6 points lower in Needs Improvement and 4 points lower in Warning.
Grade 10 Science and Technology/Engineering: Advanced 39 (25 in 2013), Proficient 47 (57 in 2013), Needs Improvement 11 (14 in 2013) and Failing 3 (4 in 2013).
Statewide: 8 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 2 points lower in Advanced, 10 points higher in Proficient, 3 points lower in Needs Improvement and 6 points lower in Warning.
Grade 8 English Language Arts: Advanced 9 (20 in 2013), Proficient 77 (65 in 2013), Needs Improvement 9 (11 in 2013) and Warning 6 (3 in 2013).
Statewide: 6 points higher in Proficient or Higher category, 5 points lower in Advanced, 12 points higher in Proficient, 5 points lower in Needs Improvement and 2 points lower in Warning.
Grade 8 Mathematics: Advanced 22 (17 in 2013), Proficient 41 (45 in 2013), Needs Improvement 24 (28 in 2013) and Warning 12 (9 in 2013).
Statewide: 11 points higher in Proficient or Higher category, 3 points higher in Advanced, 8 points higher in Proficient, 5 points lower in Needs Improvement and 7 points lower in Warning.
Grade 8 Science and Technology/Engineering: Advanced 2 (5 in 2013), Proficient 48 (43 in 2013), Needs Improvement 38 (44 in 2013) and Warning 12 (9 in 2013).
Statewide: 6 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 5 points lower in Advanced, 12 points higher in Proficient, 5 points lower in Needs Improvement and 2 points lower in Warning.
Grade 7 English Language Arts: Advanced 16 (15 in 2013), Proficient 69 (66 in 2013), Needs Improvement 13 (15 in 2013) and Warning 3 (4 in 2013).
Statewide: 2 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 5 points higher in Advanced, 8 points higher in Proficient, 8 points lower in Needs Improvement and 4 points lower in Warning.
Grade 7 Mathematics: Advanced 23 (19 in 2013), Proficient 39 (44 in 2013), Needs Improvement 27 (26 in 2013) and Warning 11 (even with 2013).
Statewide: 7 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 6 points higher in Advanced, 6 points higher in Proficient, 1 point higher in Needs Improvement and 13 points lower in Warning.
Grade 6 English Language Arts: Advanced 19 (22 in 2013), Proficient 53 (61 in 2013), Needs Improvement 21 (13 in 2013) and Warning 7 (4 in 2013).
Statewide: 4 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 3 points higher in Advanced, 1 point higher in Proficient, 2 points lower in Needs Improvement and 2 points lower in Warning.
Grade 6 Mathematics: Advanced 31 (28 in 2013), Proficient 33 (42 in 2013), Needs Improvement 27 (23 in 2013) and Warning 9 (6 in 2013).
Statewide: 5 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 2 points higher in Advanced, 2 points higher in Proficient, 2 points higher in Needs Improvement and 6 points lower in Warning.
Grade 5 English Language Arts: Advanced 20 (19 in 2013), Proficient 55 (54 in 2013), Needs Improvement 24 (26 in 2013) and Warning 12 (9 in 2013).
Statewide: 11 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 2 points higher in Advanced, 9 points higher in Proficient, 8 points lower in Needs Improvement and 3 points lower in Warning.
Grade 5 Mathematics: Advanced 34 (28 in 2013), Proficient 30 (37 in 2013), Needs Improvement 24 (26 in 2013) and Warning 7 (10 in 2013).
Statewide: 3 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 4 points higher in Advanced, even in Proficient, even in Needs Improvement and 3 points lower in Warning.
Grade 5 Science and Technology/Engineering: Advanced 20 (15 in 2013), Proficient 43 (36 in 2013), Needs Improvement 30 (39 in 2013) and Warning 7 (10 in 2013)
Statewide: 4 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, even in Advanced, 10 points higher in Proficient, 4 points lower in Needs Improvement and 6 points lower in Warning.
Grade 4 English Language Arts: Advanced 15 (17 in 2013), Proficient 47 (54 in 2013), Needs Improvement 31 (22 in 2013) and Warning 7 (even with 2013).
Statewide: 8 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, 2 points higher in Advanced, 6 points higher in Proficient, 2 points lower in Needs Improvement and 6 points lower in Warning.
Grade 4 Mathematics: Advanced 20 (21 in 2013), Proficient 40 (even with 2013), Needs Improvement 35 (34 in 2013) and Warning 4 (even with 2013).
Statewide: 9 points higher in the Proficient or Higher category, even in the Advanced category, 8 points higher in Proficient, 1 point lower in Needs Improvement and 8 points lower in Warning.
Grade 3 English Language Arts: Advanced 14 (8 in 2013), Proficient 50 (54 in 2013), Needs Improvement 30 (34 in 2013) and Warning 6 (4 in 2013).
Statewide: 7 percentage points higher than the state in the Proficient or Higher category, 2 points higher in the Advanced category, 4 points higher in the Proficient category, 3 points lower than the Needs Improvement category and four points lower in the Warning category.
Grade 3 Mathematics: Advanced 29 (34 in 2013), Proficient 49 (39 in 2013), Needs Improvement 17 (20 in 2013) and Warning 5 (7 in 2013).
Statewide: 9 points higher in the Proficient or Advanced category, 2 points lower in the Advanced category, 2 points higher in Proficient, 4 points lower in Needs Improvement and 6 points lower in Warning.
Schools with the highest MCAS improvement rate over last year were in Boston, Dorchester and Lawrence.
The Reading and Melrose school districts slipped to Level 3 due to one school in each district achieving lower MCAS scores, but the scores are only one data point looked at when reviewing overall achievement.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan toured schools in Massachusetts to promote President Obama’s proposed education budget and to visit several high-performing and experimental public schools. Duncan also spoke at a Harvard Graduate School of Education event and met former Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and a group of higher education administrators.