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Taunton reports MCAS gains; no schools in state bottom 10% as district presses subgroup supports
Summary
At its Nov. 5 meeting, Taunton School Committee heard MCAS accountability results showing districtwide gains—ELA up three points, math up two—and that none of the district’s schools are in the state’s bottom 10%. Presenters flagged focus-targeted supports for specific subgroups and urged work with DESE to boost participation.
Assistant Superintendent Christopher Baratta and testing coordinator Hilary Bresnahan presented Taunton Public Schools’ 2025 MCAS accountability results to the School Committee on Nov. 5, reporting steady districtwide improvement and emphasizing targeted work for specific student subgroups.
Baratta told the committee the state accountability system measures both normative comparisons with other districts and criterion-referenced growth over time, and he credited district strategies aligned to the district strategic and school improvement plans for the upward trend. “None of the district’s schools are in the state’s bottom 10th percentile,” Baratta said, and he noted Martin Middle School showed “substantial progress” while most other schools demonstrated “moderate progress.”
The presentation highlighted several subgroup and participation issues that will shape next steps. Bresnahan said ELA performance rose by three percentile points and math by two. District leaders identified focus-targeted designations for particular subgroups and schools: Mulcahey Elementary will focus on improving outcomes for white students, Galligan will focus on students with disabilities, and Taunton High School must increase participation among students with disabilities. The Virtual Academy narrowly missed the 95% participation threshold, an outcome Baratta called a “low-hanging fruit” the district can remedy by ensuring students attend and complete testing.
Directors outlined interventions and curriculum choices they said contributed to gains. Director Danielle Coute attributed ELA progress to adopted curricula (Wonders K–5 and StudySync 6–12), common writing prompts, shared rubrics and intervention systems; first-grade Ignite Reading tutoring was identified as an early-literacy support. Dr. Elizabeth Pawlowski reviewed math and science work, saying math professional development is targeting conceptual understanding (fractions were singled out) and that the district is embedding universal-design strategies in science instruction while DESE works on updating science MCAS items.
Presenters also reviewed demographic context: Taunton serves higher-than-average shares of low-income students (about 16.5 percentage points above the state) and students with disabilities (about 8 percentage points above the state). Director Dalila Mendoza highlighted that English learners showed the highest subgroup growth, which the district attributed to consistent resources across newcomer and general education programs.
Committee members asked about participation and subgroup supports. Baratta said the district will continue its collaborative work with DESE’s Office of Effective Partnerships and Impact to plan targeted supports and to address participation gaps quickly. Superintendent Cabral closed by praising the leadership team’s transparency and commitment to continuous improvement.
The committee did not take a formal vote on policy changes during the presentation; next steps were described as continued planning with DESE and ongoing monitoring of participation and subgroup outcomes.
