Brockton MCAS scores start to rebound after COVID losses — but still far below state ave

BROCKTON — Last week, The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released the results for the 2022 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), the annual state-wide standardized exam for public schools.

Overall, the results tell a dismal story.

Since the pandemic, academic performance has slumped as schools and students try to adapt. While the test results demonstrate a slow early return to normalcy in the classroom, some districts, including Brockton, have shown signs of improvement.

On the whole for Massachusetts, results in math and science have improved since 2021, while English scores have declined compared to 2021. In general, scores are still below where they were pre-pandemic.

In Brockton, results in math and science improved compared to 2021, while English improved slightly. But scores in all three categories are still well below pre-pandemic levels.

“These results show that it may take a few years for students to recover academically from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students need more time learning, whether it is in the form of tutoring, acceleration academies, early literacy, after school programs or summer learning,” said Education Secretary James Peyser in a statement.

“We have committed approximately $130 million in federal and state funds to these efforts. We know school districts are using these funds to increase instructional time and implement other proven strategies for improving student outcomes.”

Brockton High School students leave at the end of a school day on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.
Brockton High School students leave at the end of a school day on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.

Across the state, 39% of students in grades 3 through 8 exceeded or met expectations on the math assessment, a 6% increase from 2021. On the science exam, results in both fifth and eight grades increased by 1% from last school year for meeting or exceeding expectations, reaching 43% in fifth grade and 42% in eighth grade.

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Meanwhile, students who took the English exam generally decreased in performance. In grades 3 through 8, 41% of students met or exceeded expectations, a 5% decrease from the previous year. For students in 10th grade, 58% met or exceeded expectations, a 6% decrease from the previous year.

Brockton sees subtle improvements

In Brockton, scores have increased somewhat from the previous year. Along with the trend of the rest of the state, Brockton Public Schools performed much better on the math exam and marginally better on science exam compared to 2021. In English, Brockton scores ticked up very slightly compared to 2021.

However the district has not caught up to pre-pandemic scores.

Brockton Public School's MCAS results from the 2018-2019 school year through the 2021-2022 school year.
Brockton Public School's MCAS results from the 2018-2019 school year through the 2021-2022 school year.
MCAS scores range from 440 to 560, and students are placed in one of four categories based on their performance on the exam.
MCAS scores range from 440 to 560, and students are placed in one of four categories based on their performance on the exam.

In math, 16% of students met or exceeded expectations, while only 11% did in 2021. Last year, 45% of students did not meet expectations — the lowest bracket students can be placed in — but that percentage shrank to 34% in 2022. The remainder of students "partially meet expectations."

In 2019, 22% of BPS students met or exceeded expectations and 26% did not meet expectations on the math exam.

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Accountability percentiles

This year the district saw improvement in its "accountability percentiles" — a rating used to show a school's performance on the exam that incorporates various factors in addition to student scores. It takes into account factors like graduation and drop out rates, the number of absences during that school year and advanced class completion.

The accountability percentile is calculated by comparing each school to other schools with the same grade-span. Most notably, John F. Kennedy Elementary School landed in the 29th percentile — a two point increase from before the pandemic.

12 of the 18 Brockton Public Schools that took the MCAS in 2022 experienced gains in accountability percentile compared to pre-pandemic years.
12 of the 18 Brockton Public Schools that took the MCAS in 2022 experienced gains in accountability percentile compared to pre-pandemic years.

These Brockton schools performed the best

Eighteen schools in the district took the exam, and 12 schools experienced gains from pre-pandemic years, with four schools — Ashfield Middle School, Edgar B. Davis Community School, Joseph F. Plouffe Academy and Louis F. Angelo Elementary — increasing by double digits. Louis F. Angelo increased the most, with a gain of 17 points.

Brockton High School students leave at the end of a school day on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.
Brockton High School students leave at the end of a school day on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.

“Our 2022 MCAS results demonstrate that the district did not experience significant declines in comparison to 2019 — the year prior to the pandemic,” Superintendent Michael Thomas said in a statement.

“We are optimistic that the changes we’ve instituted since our 2020 district review are leading to improved student outcomes, however there is still a lot of work to do. I know that we are trending in the right direction and that our staff, students and families are committed to building a better school district.”

According to a statement from BPS, during last school year the district made "investments in new curriculum and leadership, a new five-year strategic plan, and targeted support to students through better data use."

“I believe in our students, I believe in our staff, and I believe in our families. We’re going to do this together,” Thomas said.

Enterprise staff reporter Chris Butler can be reached by email at cbutler@enterprisenews.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Chr1sButler. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton MCAS: Scores start to rebound after COVID losses