At a meeting on Nov. 22, the Winthrop School Committee viewed a presentation on the results of the district’s Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test scores.
Lori Gallivan, the Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability for WPS, presented a slideshow overview of Winthrop students’ performance.
William P. Gorman Fort Banks School
The school tested second graders. Due to COVID-19, the school had shifted from introducing third grade material to simply mastering second grade baseline skills.
In English Language Arts (ELA), only 34 percent of second graders are meeting or exceeding expectations, while 66 percent are underperforming. In math, only 10 percent of second graders are meeting or exceeding expectations.
Arthur T. Cummings Elementary School
The school tested fourth, fifth and sixth graders.
In ELA, 46 percent of fourth graders are meeting or exceeding expectations. In math, only 19 percent of fourth graders are meeting or exceeding expectations. These are both below the state averages of 50 percent and 33 percent respectively.
Fifth graders are just above the state average of 49 percent meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA, but below the state average in math at 24 percent.
Sixth graders narrowly beat the state average in ELA at 48 percent, but came in below the state averages for math and STEM, at 24 percent and 39 percent respectively.
Winthrop Middle School
The school tested grades seven, eight and nine.
Fifty-one percent of seventh graders are meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA, beating the state average of 47 percent. In math, they are 10 percentage points lower than the state average, with only 24 percent of students performing at grade level.
Eighth graders were roughly in line with the state averages, with 44 percent meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA, and 33 percent in math.
Ninth graders were consistently below the state average in ELA, math and STEM, with 36, 31 and 28 percent performing at grade level.
Winthrop High School
The high school tested eleventh graders, the only cohort to exceed the state’s average for achievement in math, coming in at 54 percent meeting or exceeding expectations. They also beat the state’s average in ELA with 71 percent performing at grade level.
Response
In an effort to help their underperforming students, schools have proposed a number of solutions: offer small group instruction, reduce class size, assess student progress, tailor instruction to each student, implement new programs, target SPED/ELL students, intervene with underperformers, identify new mastery standards, provide tiered learning, use data-driven instruction, monitor attendance, and create extracurricular engagement opportunities.
Gallivan emphasized that the MCAS is only one metric of student achievement.
The full presentation will be available on the Winthrop Public Schools website.