On September 19, scores from the 2023 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) were released, showing a noticeable decrease in proficiency for the seventh grade when compared to prior years.
The MCAS is administered statewide every year for grades three through ten, with results coming out the following year. Testing consists of both an English language arts and a mathematics section, with an additional science section for grade nine.
This past year, there was a decrease of 17 percent from the year prior in Boston Latin School sixie students whose English Language Arts scores met expectations. There was also a seven percent decrease in students whose mathematics scores met expectations. Scores for tenth-grade students, however, have remained steady over the past several years.
One of the possible causes for this decrease is that this past year’s test-takers mainly learned foundational skills in English and math through remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. BLS English teacher Ms. Keri Orellana comments that the decrease in MCAS scores is a result of remote learning, “going back to the pandemic and the shift in the format that was used to teach kids.”
The pandemic caused learning loss for many students because of the limitations of online learning on Zoom. Kanav Vashishth (VI) says, “I think the pandemic […] prevented us from being able to do what we need to do in person. I feel like that’s been slowing us down.”
In the summer of 2021, Boston Public Schools introduced a new exam school admissions policy to increase diversity in schools, including BLS. It has largely achieved that goal, but has raised questions about its ability to prepare students for the rigor of BLS. Prior to the adjustment, the Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE) was administered to prepare students specifically for standardized testing, including the MCAS. With less experience in taking standardized tests, some have attributed the decrease in MCAS scores to the lack of preparation for students who began BLS after the policy change.
Head of School Jason Gallagher comments on how the change in the exam school admissions policy relates to the decline in MCAS scores, “I can’t say if there is a direct correlation, but I don’t think it is a coincidence that there was a drop in that year.”
Some BLS teachers are open to the possibility of adjusting their curriculum to meet the needs of the students who may not have been taught the same way as their old students. This includes re-teaching students fundamental skills that they lack either because they were not taught them during COVID-19 or because their previous schools did not teach them.
To close students’ learning gaps, BLS is focusing on improving classroom instruction, in addition to more executive functioning work and the introduction of Wolfpack After School for seventh-grade students. Saturday Success School was also strengthened to match the new needs of students.
As for potential solutions, BLS pre-algebra teacher Ms. Tracy O’Donnell shares, “Any kind of individualized or small-group type of extra help is really the most useful for kids who have a gap.”
The decline in MCAS scores comes as BPS faces parent dissatisfaction and decreasing enrollment, with the district trying to adequately address learning loss from the pandemic. According to a new poll sponsored by the Shah Family Foundation, 55 percent of parents were unsatisfied with their options for public high schools in Boston. Meanwhile, the district has been declining in student numbers since 2015, which was only accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though the scores have gone down, BLS is still very high-performing, with 95 percent meeting expectations for the mathematics assessment. Compared to other public schools in Massachusetts, BLS is still one of the top MCAS performers despite the recent decline.
Head of School Gallagher concludes with this message: “The answer isn’t to give less work; it’s to support [students] in the work that they’re doing to get to where they need to be.”