Melrose students generally outperformed the state average in multiple MCAS categories, according to MCAS data recently released by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Tenth grade students went from 48 to 50 percent in advanced mathematics, and from 39 to 42 percent in advanced English language arts. Science also showed slight improvement for the 10th graders, with 18 percent scoring in the "advanced" category compared to 16 percent last year. However, the number in the “failing” category slightly increased in the past year in all three categories, going from 3 to 7 (mathematics), 1 to 2 (English language arts) and 3 to 5 in science.
Eighth grade students improved in the "proficient" category for English language arts, scoring 64 percent this year compared to 59 percent last year. However, in the "advanced" category there was a slight decreased from 24 to 23 percent.
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While there was an increase from 24 to 32 percent in the "advanced" category for 8th graders in mathematics, there was a decrease in the "proficient" category, going from 35 to 31 percent.
In science, the percent of 8th grade students in the "proficient" category slightly increased from 44 to 45 percent. However, there was also a slight increase in the "warning" category from 11 to 13 percent.
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The state provides complete data showing how the various grades have done in these subjects between 2009 and 2012.
Looking at other grades’ results, the 7th grade saw an increase in both advanced English language arts and mathematics, going from 21 to 23 percent and 22 to 27 percent, respectively. Howeber, the "warning" category increased for both also, going from 2 to 4 percent and 15 to 16 percent, respectively.
In other noteworthy changes, the third grade saw a jump in advanced math students from 17 to 31 percent over the last year, although the percentage in the “proficient” category dipped from 54 to 40 percent in that same time period. Meanwhile, grade 5 science scores jumped in the percentage of advanced students (20 to 34 percent), but also an increase in the “warning” category from 9 to 11 percent.
To compare the Melrose school district against the state, check out this data table.
What do you make of Melrose's MCAS test results? Let us know by posting a comment in the comments section below.
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