Partly cloudy skies. Low 43F. Winds light and variable..

Partly cloudy skies. Low 43F. Winds light and variable.

PEABODY — The results are in.

Peabody's 2022 MCAS scores show some improvement in the district since last year — and some areas that need more work.

It's the first full set of MCAS data the district's had since the start of the pandemic, which canceled the statewide test in 2020. While 10th graders sat for a normal MCAS in 2021, the state administered only half of the test’s usual length for students in grades 3-8 that year.

“What that means in a larger context is that grade 10 students in 2022 had not taken a (full) MCAS test since 2019 when they were seventh-graders,” Assistant Superintendent Kelly Chase said during a presentation on the results at last Tuesday's School Committee meeting.

“That's a big jump when you think about… the difference between that seventh- and 10th-grader, and the experiences that they have along the way that help them perform on those assessments,” Chase said.

In 2022, 43% of Peabody 10th-graders received a passing grade of meets or exceeds expectations on the English Language Arts MCAS, compared to 44% the year before, according to the results.

The district saw a steeper drop in ELA scores across its middle and elementary schools. Just 30% of students in grades 3-8 passed the test, a 7% loss from last year.

It’s a similar trend for schools across the state. Overall, passing ELA scores for grades 3-8 decreased from 46%-41% between 2021 and 2022, with writing scores dropping lower in grades 3-5 than grades 6-8.

“Even though (kids) were reading at home, they may not have been writing essays or getting feedback on them,” Superintendent Josh Vadala said at the meeting.

Math scores in Peabody rose in grades 3-8 from 27% last year to 31% this year. Statewide scores among these grades increased from 33% to 39%.

But where younger students improved, grade 10 students sitting the exam — which they need to pass to graduate — did worse this year than last. Peabody saw a 9% decrease in passing math MCAS scores among high-schoolers from last year’s 44%. The statewide average also dipped from 52% to 50% this year.

“When students were home, they probably weren't learning math or science on their own during the closure or in hybrid times when there was some interrupted instruction, but they could read on their own,” Vadala said.

Science scores were a bit more steady between 2021 and 2022. Peabody fifth-graders did 3% better than last year’s 32% passing rate, in line with a statewide increase of 1% from 42% in 2021.

Eighth-graders across the state also saw a 1% increase in passing science scores from last year. In Peabody, these scores dipped from 42% to 39%, putting them just below the state average of 42%.

This was the first year the state administered its new high school biology and introductory physics MCAS tests. In Peabody, 32% of students met or exceeded expectations on the tests. Statewide, that number was 47%.

“Our key takeaway is that we really weren't surprised by these results,” Vadala said.

With COVID exposures and positive test results causing students and staff to miss class, absence rates were higher than usual during the first two years of the pandemic, Vadala said. Online learning didn't help either, he added. 

But far fewer students have been absent this year. Vadala said he expects learning to improve drastically now that schools are back to normal.

“I think the investments that this committee has made in terms of instructional leadership and the resources that we've put in front of our students really gear ourselves up to address this learning loss,” he said.

A new ELA program was implemented in Peabody elementary schools this year to help improve literacy rates among younger students, Chase said.

The program includes grammar-based instructional units and text-based questions to help students understand how to find answers and quotes from texts.

“(Teachers) are taking those little responses and building on them so that kids start to write stronger paragraphs and essays,” Chase said.

At the high school, illustrative math is being incorporated at the algebra I level this year thanks to a grant from the state. This problem-based approach to math allows teachers to use materials that “think more deeply about the concepts of algebra,” Chase said.

But the biggest change the district expects to improve future test scores and learning is having students back in their classrooms.

“When teachers and students are present in each other's company, there's real work that's being done and you can start to see the recovery happening,” Chase said.

Contact Caroline Enos at CEnos@northofboston.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolineEnos.

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