Somerville Sees Increase in MCAS Achievement

Somerville's public school system saw a marked improvement in MCAS results in 2013, with English and math proficiency levels reaching their highest point in at least five years, according to recently released data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The jump in achievement was particularly dramatic at the 10th grade level, where English proficiency increased by 16 percent compared to 2012, and math proficiency increased by 17 percent.

Compared to 2009, 10th-grade English proficiency increased by 21 percent, and 10th grade math proficiency increased by 15 percent.

"It's good news," said Somerville Public School's Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi. He said MCAS scores are a snapshot of the learning process that takes place in the schools, and "the snapshot this year shows we improved dramatically."

While the percentage of students scoring proficient or higher in math and English reached a five-year high, Pierantozzi pointed to the district's "student growth percentage" scores, which indicate Somerville students improved at a greater rate than most students in the state.

An announcement from Somerville Public Schools said Somerville ranked in the 81st percentile in terms of student growth, meaning Somerville students had higher (or equivalent) student-growth scores than students in 320 other school districts. There are 397 districts in the state. In 2012, Somerville was in the 35th percentile, the announcement said.

"Across the board, our growth has been outstanding this year," said Pierantozzi. He said there's no "silver bullet," but "we did something that made this occur." He suggested curriculum changes, instructional support for individual students and a recent program that emphasizes essay-writing skills may be among the reasons students improved.

One area that saw improvement, though not as much improvement, was science and technology. Pierantozi said, "We're focusing on that," and he suggested there might have been a jump in science scores a few years ago. The school system hasn't instituted a new science curriculum because it's waiting for a major state-level change in science curriculums, he said.

Here's a quick look at Somerville's proficiency scores. You can see more details in the charts posted above, and even more details at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's website.

10th grade English—percent of students scoring proficient or higher, Somerville/state
2013: 85/91
2012: 74/88
2011: 68/84
2010: 64/78
2009: 70/81

10th grade math—percent of students scoring proficient or higher, Somerville/state
2013: 69/80
2012: 59/78
2011: 61/77
2010: 60/75
2009: 60/75

All grades English—percent of students scoring proficient or higher, Somerville/state
2013: 57/69
2012: 53/69
2011: 52/69
2010: 51/68
2009: 51/67

All grades math—percent of students scoring proficient or higher, Somerville/state
2013: 47/61
2012: 40/59
2011: 40/58
2010: 42/59
2009: 41/55