MCAS Information
Fall, 2011—A Letter from Superintendent Eberwein
While there is a great deal of MCAS data that can be accessed at www.doe.mass.edu, I am hopeful that the summary posted below will provide highlights of the Pittsfield Public Schools’ 2011 MCAS/AYP results, officially released today. As you might imagine, there are many ways to present and frame data. I believe this summary is a fair and balanced perspective.
I formally presented the district data at the September 21, 2011 School Committee meeting, including additional analysis was provided. A more comprehensive school-centered presentation is planned for October 26, 2011, at which time school principals will combine MCAS analysis with school improvement goals/plans.
It is important to recognize that as we embrace our increasingly diverse student body (higher levels of poverty, more non-native English speakers, & higher rates of transience) we continue to make academic gains as a district, outpacing state gains. More impressively, students identified within No Child Left Behind subgroups all made academic gains in this last cycle, outpaced their peers state-wide, and closed the gap between themselves and their aggregate peers. We are also advancing more students into the proficient and advanced categories across grade levels. These gains have been realized as we have substantially lowered the dropout rate, keeping more kids in school and on track for graduation. Finally, I am very proud to report that Pittsfield now ranks as the #1 urban district in Massachusetts. Our aggregate CPI in both ELA and math has positioned us atop the 24 urban district network, and among the 14 small urban cohort within which we identify.
While we have many examples of success system-wide, I will call out John T. Reid Middle School and Morningside Community School who were both commended by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Congratulations to both schools!
I am so proud of our progress, and have to place all credit and accolades on the excellent work happening in our schools. Our school leaders, our schoolteachers, and our support staff are singularly focused on advancing children, helping them to achieve at high levels and, in doing so, closing the achievement gap. We have elevated and will continue to elevate our expectations system-wide.
Please contact me if you have any questions, see any errors or omissions in this report, or would like additional analysis not included in the attached report.
Thank you. ~ H.Jake Eberwein