Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Assessment And Accountability topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Assistant superintendent outlines MCAS trends and urges more common formative assessments
Summary
Assistant Superintendent Derek presented MCAS and accountability results showing district-wide growth and areas for focus: continued investment in high-quality instructional materials, a push for common formative assessments (especially for writing), and targeted interventions for students with disabilities.
Assistant Superintendent Derek presented a comprehensive accountability and assessment update to the Mendon-Upton Regional School District school committee, highlighting steady district growth while identifying priorities for the coming year.
Derek told the committee the district is not currently in the state’s assistance or intervention categories and that schools made either substantial or moderate progress toward improvement targets. He highlighted district performance above state averages in several subjects and reported a Student Growth Percentile (SGP) of about 52.9 for ELA, which he described as a positive indicator of year-to-year student growth.
Derek walked the committee through cohort analyses that in some cases show students moving from below to above state-average proficiency from fifth to ninth grade. He emphasized early gains at the elementary level — citing fourth-grade writing scores that moved from below to above the state average — and said Memorial Elementary’s growth figures include multiple years of above-average results.
The presentation also flagged persistent subgroup gaps. Derek noted that students with disabilities have been an area of concern but that middle-school students with disabilities improved roughly 12 percentage points in proficiency since 2022 (about 3% per year), which he described as meaningful progress while acknowledging more work is needed.
Derek recommended district actions including procuring high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) where pilot results support purchase, building common formative-assessment systems (particularly for writing), and conducting a science curriculum review. He noted tools that allow teachers to drill down to item prompts and subgroup performance as part of the district’s strategy to use data to drive instruction.
What’s next: The committee asked for cohort comparisons and additional visualizations; Derek and staff will continue to refine displays and work with teachers to implement recommended formative assessments and curriculum choices.
