MCAS Scores and Other Uses of Data

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently released the MCAS scores from Spring 2012.  Here is a look at recent trends in SSVT's MCAS scores. The scores continue to head in the right direction as they have for several years! One key indicator to review is the percentage of students scoring Advanced and Proficient. 

Our faculty will be spending time analyzing results and making instructional adjustments as needed, because such adjustments in curriculum and instruction will increase opportunities for students to be highly successful on MCAS testing.

MCAS scores generate a lot of attention to be sure.  But at SSVT, we collect data on student growth and achievement every day, and we place equal importance on student growth and achievement in all of our programs, regardless of whether it has a MCAS test.  Every time a car leaves our Automotive Shop or a client leaves our Cosmetology Salon, we have engaged students in high stakes, real world tests, where customer satisfaction and accuracy of the completed task are essential!  Furthermore, as a school district, we value the importance of collecting data and using it to make decisions, whether that is in setting a budget, planning a school lunch menu, or differentiating math lessons. 

The way data are organized also tells an important story.  Parents of 10th-12th graders may have noticed this when we altered our report card structure last school year.  Previously, just having a single letter grade of C+ did not clearly distinguish between success with the curriculum and the effort being put forth to achieve success.  By reorganizing the data collected in teachers' rank books and issuing two letter grades per course, we can clearly tell two stories: a letter grade for Achievement (what have they learned) and a letter grade for Work Habits (what effort and habits of mind do they exhibit in pursuit of learning).  

I'll post further comments later in the year regarding student assessment, data, the difference between "growth" and "achievement" in testing results and how SSVT is using data to make decisions.