MALDEN SCHOOL COMMITTEE: Malden Public Schools MCAS testing results from 2024 reviewed

Most results are higher than peer school districts and on par with statewide averages this year, across the Malden district

By Steve Freker

The Malden School Committee and those in attendance at the second regular meeting of the academic year received a detailed review of the Malden Public Schools MCAS testing results this past Thursday. Malden Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Komal Bhasin delivered the MCAS results presentation to the members Thursday, as the point person for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for first-year Malden Superintendent of School Dr. Timothy Sippel. Overall, she reported that the district’s results are largely on par with the state average performance results – at all grades – and also higher than results at nearly all of Malden’s peer districts.

Further, using chart breakdowns based on demographics, Bhasin reported higher scores in specific academic categories by Black and English Learner students. She also said there is improvement in MCAS testing results at the high school level by students who are challenged by physical or intellectual disabilities.

According to the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the state agency which oversees the Commonwealth’s 371 public school districts, the MCAS testing – Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System – is a set of statewide standardized tests. Students in Grades 3-8 and 10 take MCAS tests in English language arts and mathematics. Students in Grades 5, 8, and one high school grade, Malden Grade 10, take a science MCAS test. Students in Grade 8 take a civics MCAS test. According to DESE, Mass. state law requires that high school students meet the Competency Determination (CD) standard in order to graduate, which is usually done by earning a passing score on MCAS tests.

At Thursday’s meeting, Bhasin used a slide deck largely consisting of data displayed on a variety of graphs that depicted scores and percentage trends across the district, grade-by-grade and from the respective five K-8 schools – Beebe, Ferryway, Forestdale, Linden and Salemwood – as well as Malden High School. The results were also broken down demographically to get a clearer picture of how various cultural groups are performing.

Bhasin told the School Committee that the growth score used to determine the propensity for improvement and higher performance results had increased overall for Malden’s Grade 3 and Grade 8 students. The first-year Assistant Superintendent said there was a 4% increase in several areas. “This [improvement] closes the gap [further] between this year’s results and the pre-pandemic results and are on par with the state average.”

Bhasin also noted that Malden Public Schools’ overall performance scores at each grade level in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics testing was consistently higher than in Malden’s peer districts. Some of these peer districts are Brockton, Everett, Medford, Lawrence and Waltham. According to numbers available on the DESE website, Malden Public Schools scored higher in each category at each level in nearly all of them than the peer district schools.

All of Malden Public Schools’ detailed MCAS performance results as well as those from all of Massachusetts public schools’ districts are public information available for viewing on the DESE website: https://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/results.html. MCAS results dating back yearly to 2018 are available at that link.

Bhasin noted that all of the district’s school principals were in attendance at the School Committee meeting that evening and that they were available to discuss and evaluate individual school results.

The Assistant Superintendent said she, Superintendent Dr. Sippel and the entire central administration team are already working on a “next steps” plan to “keep momentum moving positively on a successful path for all of our students” as to MCAS and overall academic performance this school year. Included are increased academic coaching and professional learning partnerships; adding numerous school-specific and curriculum-specific initiatives to support instruction; and facilitating small-group, data-informed interventions.

Bhasin said the central administration was encouraged by the progress of the Malden Public Schools’ substantially sized English Learner student population overall academically, though the MCAS scores did not reflect it this year, particularly at the elementary level. English Learners are students who are still learning to master English and whose first language is not English either in school or at home. At this time the predominant language spoken by most students in the Malden Public Schools is Portuguese, primarily by students of Brazilian descent – some 46 percent of Malden’s students – it has been reported this school year.

“We are excited about the support we have given and plan to continue and increase for our English Learner students,” Bhasin said, adding that continued and increased attention is being provided along those lines during regular Professional Development training for educators.

“We continue to work on individualized progress targets [for students] and we are focusing on the development of professional learning plans,” Bhasin said.

Speaking on behalf of Superintendent Dr. Sippel and the entire central administration, to the efforts of all Malden Public Schools educators and administrators in continuing the goal of MCAS result improvement and all overall academic achievement this school year, Bhasin said, “We appreciate and have deep respect for the work of our educators to do right by our kids.”