Nassa Slams Superintendent's MCAS Report (Part 1)

During the Sept. 24 Sudbury Public Schools Committee meeting, Superintendent Anne Wilson touted how SPS student MCAS scores, which were released last week, were above the state average.

The report also showed Haynes Elementary School is considered a Level 1 school, the highest in the state rankings, while Curtis Middle School, and Loring, Noyes and Nixon elementary schools are all at Level 2.

Among the statistics Wilson reported included:

Math growth year over year:

• Grades 5, 6 and 8 dropped in scores. 

English Language Arts growth year over year:

• Grade 4 rose
• Grade 5 dropped
• Grade 6 remained level
• Grade 7 dropped
• Grade 8 rose by .5 points
• All grades combined were lower by 6 points (58-52) from last year.

English Language Arts cohort growth: 

                       SPS/State 

• Grade 3 —79/57
• Grade 4 – 84/53
• Grade 5 – 89/65
• Grade 6 – 87/67
• Grade 7 – 91/71
• Grade 8 – 88/69 

Math

                      SPS/State 

• Grade 3 – 81/67
• Grade 4 – 82/52
• Grade 5 – 82/61
• Grade 6 – 77/60
• Grade 7 – 80/52
• Grade 8 – 80/61

Science

                       SPS/State 

• Grade 5 – 82/51
• Grade 8 – 75/39

Overall the district is at Level 2.

All Massachusetts districts and schools with sufficient data are classified into one of five accountability and assistance levels, with the highest performing in Level 1 and lowest performing in Level 5. In general, a district is classified into the level of its lowest performing school, unless the district was classified into Level 4 or 5 as a result of action by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. 

School Committee member Scott Nassa was upset after Wilson's report for failing to identify significant drops in state rankings, specifically in English Language Arts.

Click on the videos to see his reaction.