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MCAS recovery uneven; district leans on internal diagnostics and early‑grade literacy gains
Summary
Dr. Cormier presented 2025 MCAS and accountability results to the school committee, noting statewide recovery remains incomplete and urging stronger district reliance on internal diagnostics.
Dr. Cormier briefed the committee on 2025 MCAS results and related accountability indicators, and urged the district to rely more on internal progress monitoring as state testing policies change.
Dr. Cormier said statewide recovery from pandemic learning loss remains incomplete and that only a small number of districts statewide have regained both math and ELA performance to 2019 levels. "We are still in some sort of recovery mode, that we'd hoped to be out of by now, but we just we aren't," Dr. Cormier said, summarizing the statewide and district context.
Locally, the presentation highlighted several positive signals: foundational literacy growth in early grades has returned to pre‑pandemic levels in some schools, multilingual learners posted gains after focused investment, and AP participation remained steady (172 students). District leaders pointed to improved attendance interventions at some elementary schools (notably reduced absenteeism at Pepperell) and to stronger internal diagnostic outcomes in middle grades. At the same time, Dr. Cormier cautioned that comparisons across schools are not always apples‑to‑apples because growth measures can be limited to single grades (for example fourth grade growth) and diagnostic tools changed year to year, complicating 1‑to‑1 comparison.
The presentation included a recommendation that the district continue to strengthen internal, real‑time assessments and teacher coaching so instructional decisions can precede — rather than follow — state test results. Dr. Cormier also noted that the 2025 law removing MCAS as a graduation requirement creates an additional reason to expand internal progress monitoring and to weave assessment literacy into professional development.
Committee members asked whether internal diagnostics can be calibrated against MCAS; Dr. Cormier said systems are being developed but that the district needed more collected data points before drawing firm conclusions. The presentation and slides were provided to the committee for follow‑up and deeper analysis.
