Tewksbury highlights gains on 2025 MCAS; district names math review
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Summary
District officials told the school committee that Tewksbury outperformed state averages in several areas on the 2025 MCAS, with high school ELA at 67% meeting or exceeding; the committee authorized a K–12 math curriculum review to address lower performance in some grades.
Dr. Milligan presented the district’s 2025 MCAS and accountability data on Nov. 19, telling the Tewksbury School Committee that the district shows notable strengths in ELA and student growth while identifying math, science and writing as areas needing further work.
"The data are unequivocal. Students who are chronically absent — missing 10% or more of their school days — score significantly lower on their MCAS assessments," Dr. Milligan said, emphasizing attendance as a key lever for improvement. He also reported that Wynne Middle School earned a school-of-recognition designation after eighth graders posted SGPs of 66% in math and 67% in ELA.
District slides compared 2025 results to a 2019 pre-pandemic baseline. At the high school, 67% of students met or exceeded expectations in ELA, 16 percentage points higher than the state average. Across grades 3–8, Tewksbury outpaced surrounding districts in year-over-year ELA gains by six percentage points; math gains were smaller but positive in several grade spans.
Committee members pressed administrators about specific dips at grades 4 and 6 and about chronic absenteeism. Dr. Milligan and staff said those grade-level effects can reflect testing thresholds, the transition from generalist to content classrooms, and implementation timing for new curriculum materials. He said the district will continue to triangulate state MCAS results with normed and formative assessments (DIBELS, AIMSweb and locally developed common assessments) so teachers have live, classroom-level data.
As a concrete next step, the district assembled a K–12 mathematics curriculum review committee, led by the director of STEM and mathematics, to examine materials, instruction time and assessments and prepare recommendations. Dr. Milligan said the review could take one to three years and that science and writing deep dives will follow the math work.
The committee did not take additional action beyond discussion. Administrators said they will return with further disaggregated data and recommended interventions for the committee’s consideration.