Hoosac Valley Regional School District MCAS Results Mixed

Berkshires reports standardized test results were a mixed bag for the Hoosac Valley Regional School and although there was some progress, the district was penalized because of incomplete data.

Superintendent Aaron Dean went over the 2019 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System results at Monday's School Committee meeting and noted although the district is classified as "requiring assistance or intervention," this label is not truly accurate of the district's scores and progress.

Dean said the reason for this classification was the district being "in need of focused/ targeted support" and "failure to meet mandatory data reporting deadlines," which was simply a result of incomplete data that ultimately hurt the district.

He said the district inputs data into a computer system that links up with the state. At the time, the district was using a system, the MMS Student Information Platform. Typically the district will be alerted to errors that need correction. These errors can be as simple as incorrect data entry or mismatched headings.

Dean said there was a lack of support on MMS' end and simple fixes that should have been communicated in a few days did not happen in a timely matter.

Dean said he did contact the state to inform them of the issue and gave them the district's plan moving forward. He said the district has completely switched over to the PowerSchool software and has updated the state with all of the correct data.

Although everything is up to date, it is unlikely that the state will change the district's score at this point in time.

Dean said the district will come up with a better checks and balances system to not only make sure there are fewer errors but also to make sure the data is better recorded and complete.

This is the second year of using the new accountability system for so-called MCAS 2.0, a more rigorous iteration of the standardized tests. Last year's scores could not be averaged with this years, and rather the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education used a weighted system where last year's results made up a percentage of the combined score.

In other business, the School Committee voted to award an honorary diploma to World War II veteran Michael Berti.

The district would like like to award more of these degrees to veterans and asked any veterans or families of veterans to come forward.