Canton students do ‘remarkably well’ on MCAS

Canton School Superintendent Derek Folan was thrilled to report to the School Committee last week that Canton students performed “remarkably well” on last year’s MCAS tests while meeting — and in many cases exceeding — most district and state goals.

“Last year we set bold goals to increase the number of students meeting or exceeding expectations in the math section of the MCAS test,” said Josh Fogel, CPS director of technology and district data manager. “We have learned that we crushed that goal and increased by 5 percent across grades 3-10, which is outstanding.”

In particular, Canton students made dramatic improvements in geometry, with a whopping 58 percent of those tested scoring above the state average, compared to just 3 percent in 2022.

Fogel credits the work of both teachers and students for these gains. “Geometry is particularly challenging because this section of the test is becoming very literacy rich,” he said. “There aren’t as many multiple-choice questions, and a lot of justification is required. In addition, teachers rewrote lesson plans to really maximize growth and improvement.”

While the entire district made strides, students at the middle school demonstrated particularly strong growth in mathematics last year. Notably, the percentage of GMS students scoring higher than the state average rose from 2 percent in 2022 to 16 percent in 2023. The school also saw an increase of 11 percent in the number of students meeting or exceeding expectations.

Also making impressive gains were last year’s third graders — a cohort that was being closely monitored due to disruptions they experienced in grades K-1 because of COVID followed by the adoption of a new math curriculum during their second-grade year.

“Third graders demonstrated significant growth and no sign of a dip due to the implementation of a new math curriculum,” noted Fogel. “The fact they did so well is a testament to the strength of our elementary schools.”

Students enrolled in special education programs also fared well on the 2023 test and made gains of two points in English and four points in math.

“As a district we saw significant progress towards all of our MCAS goals,” said Folan. “Special education students and students at risk of being marginalized fared exceptionally well. This demonstrates our commitment to all students. I want to commend our staff and teachers as well as our students. While MCAS is only one metric of our work, it is an important tool to help the district identify areas of strengths and areas where we need additional focus.”

In other news from the September 21 meeting …

See this week’s Canton Citizen for more highlights from the September 21 School Committee meeting. Special fall promo for new subscribers: $30 for 1 year/$55 for 2 years. Click here to order your subscription today (discount will be automatically applied).

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Posted by Mike Berger on Sep 28 2023. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.