2012 MCAS Results Encouraging For Tewksbury Schools

The schools of the Tewksbury School District showed improvement and scored at or above the state average across the board on the 2012 MCAS exams.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patricia Lally presented the grade-by-grade results at the School Committee meeting on Sept. 19 at the Wynn School.

"The scores we have now are just general," said Lally. "We’ll be doing a more complete report on MCAS in the future. (Individual scores) will be going out to parents Tuesday (Sept. 25). These (scores) show that we have surpassed or done better than the state (average) on a number of subjects."

Results were especially good at the 10th grade level (Class of 2014). 91 percent of the students taking the exam scored Proficient or better at English/Language Arts; 86 percent scored Proficient or better at Math; and 72 percent scored Proficient or better on Science. On the Science exam, 98 percent scored at least Needs Improvement, which is the minimum required for a high school diploma.

Eighth graders (Class of 2016) were strong in English (87 percent Proficient or better) but were more shaky with Math (55 percent Proficient or better) and Science (49 percent Proficient or better).

Superintendent of Schools Dr. John O'Connor said there are always areas for improvement and the scores help the district determine target grades and subjects.

MCAS exams are given to students in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and 10th grades. At each level, Tewksbury scored at or above the state averages.

Results from each grade level and their comparison to the state average are attached to this article as PDF documents.