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The 2024 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test results are in, and it’s a mixed bag for Sudbury’s students.
The Boston Globe published their annual database of top-line results, and a story with the headline “2024 MCAS scores show Massachusetts falling further behind post-pandemic.” Other headlines sounded the alarm about English and Language Arts (ELA) scores across the state.
The Sudbury Public Schools district (SPS) saw ELA scores decline in grades 3-8 compared to 2023. In 2023 71% of SPS students met or exceeded expectations in the ELA tests. In 2024, that was down to 65%. The pre-pandemic number was 76%, though test scoring methodologies changed along the way. The 2023-2024 comparison may be a more useful given those prior changes.
SPS also saw the percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations in Mathematics drop from 72% to 70% between 2023 and 2024. Science and Technology/Engineering results improved from 71% to 72%. While those areas were relatively steady, there were signs of trouble at various grade levels. For example, sixth grade math scores dropped 15 points, from 77% meeting or exceeding expectations in 2023, to just 62% in 2024.
All results from SPS significantly outperformed state averages, though they trailed the results in nearby comparable districts. Grades 3-8 in Wayland, Weston, Lexington and Concord all saw either gains in the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations, or smaller declines year-over-year.
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School was a bright spot for Sudbury. The percentage of tenth grade students meeting or exceeding expectations improved in all areas year-over-year. That included a jump from 80% to 83% in ELA, 83% to 85% in Mathematics, and 77% to 83% in Science and Technology/Engineering.
Results are typically evaluated more granularly by each district and presented to their school committees in due course. Local analysis provides critical context for these top-line results, including tracing the impact of initiatives designed to help students who were previously falling short of expectations to make progress towards meeting expectations. Sudbury Weekly will cover those presentations when they are made available.
MCAS testing is a hot topic in the Commonwealth, with discussion swirling about the future use of the tests. There is a ballot question in the upcoming election that, if passed, would end the use of standardized tests as a graduation requirement in Massachusetts. More information here.
You can access the 2023 SPS MCAS report here. You can access the 2023 Lincoln-Sudbury MCAS report here. You can access source data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education here.
