WEST NEWBURY — Strong performances across the board on last spring's MCAS exams are reason to celebrate, Pentucket Superintendent Paul Livingston told the School Committee on Tuesday. Every grade demonstrated growth in the number of students scoring in the proficient and advanced categories for English language arts, and 75 percent of grade levels showed similar growth in math.
Still, results for Pentucket's fourth-graders lagged when compared to the rest of the district, raising concerns for some on the committee.
"I really want to recognize the work of the staff and be proud," said Livingston, who arranged for a dessert buffet for teachers to enjoy during their professional development session on Wednesday. A sampler of treats and coffee was also provided at the school board meeting. "We're celebrating," he said.
Despite a new low-income population subgroup in the district that will need monitoring, Livingston reported that Pentucket is no long negatively identified as being under No Child Left Behind status. The middle school is now out of the warning category for Math Special Education subgroup, and Bagnall Elementary School in Groveland is in one year improvement status for its Special Education ELA subgroup. Composite indexes in 10th grade for ELA, math and science are in the highest category.
In analyzing results, educators are now not only considering achievement — or how well a student fares on the test in a given year — but also looking at a growth index that measures how that student's results compare to other students who scored the same as that student did on the test the previous year.
When compared to similar districts in the state, Pentucket students are, on average, both achieving and growing at a better rate in all subject areas tested.
"And, most importantly, throughout this period of change and innovation here at Pentucket, we have no implementation dip that would be typical during a time of growth and development," Livingston said. "To me that is very telling of the hard work of our staff."
Eighty-six percent of students of all ages showed above-average growth in test scores, with 83 percent scoring in the very highest category for the ELA composite performance index. Sixth-graders from the Page Elementary School in West Newbury scored second in the state on the math portion of the test.
Still, West Newbury representative Wendy Willis questioned the comparatively low scores in the fourth grade this year.
Districtwide, proficiency rates for ELA were 66 percent in fourth grade; 79 percent, fifth grade; 83 percent, sixth grade; 88 percent, seventh grade; 89 percent, eighth grade; and 93 percent, 10th grade.
At the elementary schools, 81 percent of Page fourth-graders were proficient in ELA, 70 percent at Bagnall and 52 percent at Donaghue.
For math, proficiency rates across the district were 50 percent in fourth grade; 69 percent, fifth grade; 77 percent sixth grade; 66 percent seventh grade; 73 percent eighth grade; and 86 percent 10th grade.
Just 55 percent of Page School fourth-graders were proficient, 51 percent at Bagnall and 47 percent at Donaghue — and overall, 45 percent of students in that grade scored in the Needs Improvement category for math.
"To me this is a concerning number," said Willis, a parent of fourth-graders.
Livingston stressed that results for fourth-graders across the state were similar. And Chairwoman Maureen Moran noted that the fourth-grade MCAS test is considered the most difficult of all the grade levels tested.
The district's new math curriculum coordinator is working with teachers to develop strategies to foster a better math sense among students, and joint assessment methods are now being more consistently applied across the district, the superintendent said.
In another area of concern, Pentucket's eighth- and 10th-graders are achieving at high levels but continue to show flat growth rates.
"More focus and support is needed to change that trend," said Assistant Superintendent Bill Hart.
Noting that overall Page School's results were well above those in elementary schools from the other two towns, student representative Shannon MacLeod asked what was being done to raise the scores of Groveland and Merrimac students.
Livingston cautioned against comparing the three schools, because distinct factors — such as a districtwide program for autistic children housed in Merrimac's Donaghue School — can affect a school's overall scores. He acknowledged that when he was hired 31âÑ2 years ago, there were inequities in resources and curriculum among the elementary schools. It's something he says he has worked hard to rectify, and positive trends in improvement for all schools are the result.
"We're on the move and ready for the challenge. We want to be the best in the state," Hart concluded.
