MCAS Results Find NA Schools Making 'Substantial' Progress

iBerkshires.com reports North Adams Public Schools have scored well in the latest state standardized tests.

But school officials are a little worried on how to translate the charts, graphs and scores into something that makes sense for the average parent.

Superintendent Barbara Malkas acknowledged that the information was somewhat daunting and that even those immersed in it have had training to understand the results.

The elementary schools scored in the 71 percent of schools across the state that require no intervention. Drury High School is still in intervention status but the amount of improvement they have had within this one year alone was substantial.

This is the second year of using the new accountability system for so-called MCAS 2.0, a more rigorous iteration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System standardized tests.

Statewide, 85 percent of more than 1,600 schools made progress or exceeded targets and 93 percent of 397 districts.

Overall, North Adams was categorized as making "substantial progress toward targets." It earned a cumulative 52 percent across both years although the 2019 results saw a 15 percent jump over last year.

Both Brayton and Greylock saw moderate progress toward targets and Colegrove, substantial progress; Drury also saw moderate progress, but excelled in several areas including graduation rates and Advanced Placement.

Drury and Colegrove are in phases of turnaround plans approved last month by the School Committee and submitted to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Colegrove Principal Amy Meehan and Drury Principal Timothy Callahan were applauded for the efforts that advanced their schools' scoring.