Boston Focus, 10.3.25
Success ruins a good (bad) story
The end of September has brought bad news (no, not this).
Once again, the annual release of MCAS results yielded a week of media and reports wagging their figurative fingers at student achievement in Massachusetts.
429 Massachusetts school districts and charter schools have not returned to pre-pandemic levels in literacy and math. Proficiency is down and failing rates are up. In a time of unprecedented political strife, 61% of 8th graders could not meet expectations on the new civics test. No longer a requirement for graduation, the 10th grade MCAS results dropped and it may become an increasingly unreliable assessment with lower participation rates.
It’s bad to lose to the Yankees, but we can all agree it’s much worse to lose to other states in serving low-income students well.
Things have barely budged in Boston. ~80% of all BPS and Boston charter schools posted proficiency below state averages.
This data produced a typical pattern of deflection and “big ideas” (e.g., tutoring, reformed literacy instruction, cell phone bans, etc.). This conflict/solution frames works as a digestible narrative, but omits an important point: a lot of Boston schools are doing well.
19 Boston schools beat state averages - 16 of those did so in both math and literacy. And most of these schools serve a high needs population.
Acknowledging variation by school, in total, the number of high needs students in these schools is nearly equal to that of the district of Fall River. These schools enroll ~8,600 Black and Latino students, more than all of Lowell. And as many students with disabilities as Quincy.
Rather than celebrating this success as an exception, we should be seeking to understand what these schools are doing. I have been in the classrooms of 18 of those 19 schools, and for pretty extensive time in some of them. The results aren’t an accident or a function of demography, but rather a reflection of a strong school model, experienced leaders and teachers, rigorous instruction and support, a culture of improvement, etc.
Too often we respond to big problems with big solutions. Before proposing broad initiatives to improve learning, leaders and policymakers should start by visiting where it is already happening in Boston.
Schools
Boston cut the ribbon for the new Carter School.
Potential changes to exam school admission policies were the topic of a City Council hearing.
METCO has a new leader.
Odd headlines this week for a Cambridge superintendent candidate and sitting one in Des Moines, IA.
MCAS results were the focus of Tuesday’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Agenda and materials here. Several of the Boston schools above made their way onto the statewide list for Schools of Recognition.
Massachusetts is launching an AI curriculum pilot.
The two words that strike fear into the hearts of working parents: half day.
The vast majority of Massachusetts public employees put on leave for Kirk commentary are educators.
Fresh local anecdotes reflecting established data that more Northeastern high school students are taking their talents South. What are they leaving behind? The Wall Street Journal lists 4 Massachusetts colleges in America’s top 12.
The federal war with higher education continued with a big free speech ruling. The same week that the Trump Administration declared war on fatness and cartels, it also ended a Massachusetts college prep for veterans.
What the current federal shutdown means for schools.