Southbridge MCAS Results 2015

The results from Spring 2014 are provided below for comparison.

Chairman's Statement On MCAS, Gardner and Magnan

The case by Amy Allen Magnan against the School Committee and former Superintendent Gardner was recently decided in Ms. Magnan's favor. Here is Chairman McLoughlin's statement on that matter.

The Southbridge Community Supports Our Students

Teacher Survey Recommends PARCC Over MCAS

Ken O’Brien

A group of Massachusetts teachers told the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Tuesday that the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test outperforms the MCAS test, and they recommended the board adopt the new test statewide.

Twenty-three teachers who are participating in the Teach Plus Massachusetts Policy Fellowship presented a report to the board that included feedback from 351 classroom teachers in 74 school districts who looked at the PARCC test. Teach Plus is a national non-profit focused on policy.

So Where Are We On MCAS?

Ken O’Brien

 On Tuesday of this week we are finally going to get to see the Southbridge School Committee for the first time since their September 23^rd meeting. It will be interesting (should I say amusing) to see how they will deal with the flood of misinformation, ineptitude and finger-pointing that has characterized the last three weeks. 

At that time, you will recall, the Southbridge Superintendent of Schools announced that students who had taken the MCAS as sophomores in 2013 had never been given the opportunity to be retested during all of  the 2013-2014 school year. 

O’Zone Exclusive: Monday Night’s School Committee Meeting

Becky Newell

On Monday night the Southbridge School Committee held a “Committee of the Whole” meeting at 25 Cole Ave.

The only non-school committee member to attend that meeting was former School Committee member Becky Newell.

She has provided us with her notes from that meeting.

On Monday October 6th, I decided to go to the Southbridge School Committee Meeting of the Whole at Cole Ave in Southbridge. This public meeting was scheduled to start at 6 pm and I arrived in the room at approximately 5:55 pm. 

Worth Considering

Ken O’Brien

The O’Zone has received the following comment from a reader calling themselves Pythagoras. It is worth considering.

The average person may not understand just how easy this is for the school district to give you an answer to...and they are NOT!!!

 As a previous school employee and someone who had access to this data, let me explain.

Every current administrator in the Southbridge Public schools can access the MCAS data warehouse and run a simple query on the Grade 10, 2013 results and see who failed which tests. They can also see what retake results came from November 2013 and March 2014 retakes.

 Why won't they publish these results? You don't have to list names.... just list them as Student 1, Student 2, etc. but clear up the issue!!! It would take you a simple 5 minutes at the computer. 

Channel 4 Reportedly Investigating Southbridge MCAS Snafu

Ken O'Brien

The O'Zone has received the following communication from one of its readers. We can vouch for its authenticity.

"To the Parents and Students of the 39 Students Hurt by This Gaff,

Joe Shortsleeve of Boston television station Channel 4 contacted me yesterday regarding this situation. Joe is a lead investigator with the stations I Team Unit. He is well aware of the current situation and would like to talk with some of the students/parents that were impacted by this failure.

The Public Deserves An Answer

Ken O’Brien

On Sunday morning we posted a column titled “More Confusion”.

In that article we reported on credible claims that students who had failed the 10^th Grade MCAS in 2013 had in fact been retested. If true, such claims directly contradict the announcement made at Tuesday night’s School Committee meeting by the District’s Superintendent.

In addition we reported on rumors that the consultant’s contract with former schools’ Superintendent, Basan Nembirkow, had been terminated. 

More Confusion

Ken O’Brien

Despite Tuesday night’s announcement by Superintendent Gardner and yesterday’s article in The Worcester Telegram by Brian Lee, The O’Zone has received indications that MCAS retests were given.

The exchange in question went as follows:

Test Did Happen September 28, 2014 at 7:49 AM

To Thank you: I agree that I am excited Ms. Dargie will be back to help the kids tomorrow - they need her! Second, I was shocked when I saw the T&G yesterday so I hopped on here to see what's been happening since I took on a new job to get away from the politics - yikes! Third, glad I forwarded myself a few important emails... They are public record anyway but the proof is out there that the tests did happen... Maybe Amy will need them for the next unfortunate law suit that takes money away from the students. 

Southbridge Superintendent Reports On MCAS

Ken O’Brien

So now we have confirmation of what has been reported on this blog for a while. In 2013, 38 out of 105 students failed all or a portion of the MCAS. That’s over 1/3 of this year’s seniors.

Worse than that, these students went the whole of their junior year without being offered the opportunity to retake the test.

The fact is that this has never happened here before. I have to wonder if this has ever happened anywhere before. 

Southbridge MCAS Results: Grade 10 in Math Since Grade 3

Ken O'Brien

Some have expressed the belief that a more useful presentation of the MCAS data would result from

comparing the progress of the same class over time.

While I believe that such an approach is problematic in numerous ways, I have nevertheless compiled such data for the most recent MCAS results for Grade 10 in Mathematics as it has progressed since Grade 3.

The results are provided in the chart below:

Southbridge MCAS Results: An Eight Year View

Ken O'Brien

After considering the 2011-2014 MCAS results as presented in the preceding post, I decided that they told an incomplete story.

A more comprehensive view of the pattern of "progress" in the Southbridge school district is given by incorporating an additional four years of MCAS data. The charts below provide this perspective.

MCAS 2014: 4 Year Comparisons

Ken O'Brien

Results for Southbridge, all grade levels.

2014 MCAS Results Are In

Ken O'Brien

The District remains Level 4

A Tribute To Student Achievement II

Ken O’Brien

Back On November 20th I posted the first of these pieces that paid tribute to the third and fourth graders who excelled in their performance on the MCAS.

Honors for those in higher grade levels who also excelled on the MCAS were planned for the next School Committee meeting. Regrettably that was twice deferred due to inclement weather. But they are equally worthy of recognition for their efforts. They are also, it goes without saying, an embodiment of the scriptural dictum "honor thy father and thy mother".

A Tribute To Student Achievement

Ken O’Brien

In the midst of all the criticism I level at our town and its government, the accomplishments of individual citizens are often overlooked.

Such achievement is especially noteworthy in the youngest of our community. These accomplishments are not only a tribute to their own efforts. They also represent the embodiment of that all-too-often forgotten commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother”.

Success in the academic realm has been all too rare in our school district. The third and fourth graders who excelled in their performance on the MCAS are worthy of recognition for their efforts. They are a tribute to their parents. And they are a reflection on the teachers who are all too often the subject of criticism.

Was There Cheating?

Ken O’Brien

It’s really about time to stop beating around the proverbial bush.

We have now been promised a presentation about the most recent round of MCAS scores.

The basic question that needs to be answered is, after a period of seeming progress, how did the results plummet so dramatically?

It’s not merely that the failure rates for 10^th graders doubled.

How could last year’s sixth graders, who failed the math portion at a 49% rate, plummet to a 60% failure rate in math as this year’s seventh graders?

Buzz Kill

Ken O’Brien

Basan “Buzz” Nembirkow

I was fascinated by School Superintendent Basan “Buzz” Nembirkow’s response to committee member Kara Donovan’s inquiry about the recent MCAS results at last night's school committee meeting.

In contrast to what has been a quiet and reserved public demeanor since becoming superintendent, it was clear to me at least that his blood pressure was a mite over the boiling point.

He promised a presentation on the MCAS results at the next School Committee meeting, indicating in no small way his dissatisfaction with them.

Failure Rates Double for Southbridge Grade 10 Math and ELA MCAS results

Link To State Website

Link To State Website