Brookline students continued to perform well below pre-pandemic levels on the English portion of the statewide MCAS exam, and gaps between white students and students of color persisted, according to newly released results from the 2024 tests.
The results were not all bad news, however: math scores across the district have remained largely steady or increased, and some cohorts of students have shown improvement in their overall test scores over the last few years.
In the district’s elementary and middle schools, 67% of students in grades three through eight met or exceeded expectations for grade-level achievement on this year’s English exams — down from 69% last year and 76% in 2019.
Math scores have held more steady, with 71% of third through eighth graders meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations this year — up from 70% last year and down from 73% in 2019.
At Brookline High School, 78% of sophomores scored at or above grade level in English language arts as did 86% in math, compared with 83% for both English and math in 2019. The high school test is the subject of a ballot question that seeks to remove passing the MCAS exam from graduation requirements.
Although third through eighth graders’ average scores for English and math are each 17 points above the state average, Brookline follows a trend across Massachusetts: Fewer students met or exceeded expectations on the MCAS exams now than before the pandemic, and historically marginalized groups perform worse than their peers. The district is recovering from the pandemic at a rate similar to other schools in the state, MCAS scores show.
For Jodi Fortuna, Brookline’s deputy superintendent for teaching and learning, the 2024 MCAS results highlight some areas of concern and a few causes for celebration.
“While we haven’t seen the bounceback yet, I think we’re headed in the right direction and we’re doing the right things,” Fortuna said.
Results for the district’s eight K-8 schools ranged from 60% of students at the Florida Ruffin Ridley School meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations in English and math to 75% of students at the Pierce School meeting or exceeding expectations.
English language learners experienced the most significant decrease, with the percentage of third through eighth graders meeting or exceeding expectations on the English exam falling from 60% in 2019 to 44% this year.
At the high school, English language learners performed significantly worse on the 10th grade English language arts exam in 2024 than in 2019, with the percent of students who met or exceeded expectations dropping from 58% to 44%.
Racial disparities persisted in math scores, too — 76% of white students in grades three through eight scored at or above grade level on the MCAS math exam, while only a quarter of Black students met or exceeded expectations. These statistics are comparable to 2019, when 77% of white students and 29% of Black students met or exceeded expectations on the math exam.
At BHS, 87% of white 10th graders passed the MCAS English language arts exam this year. Thirty-four percent of Black students met expectations, and no Black students exceeded expectations. Before the pandemic, 43% of Black students met or exceeded expectations.
The percentage of Asian students, Hispanic and Latino students and English language learners in grades three through eight who met or exceeded expectations on the MCAS math exam decreased from 2019 to 2024 by two to four percentage points per demographic group.
Fortuna said the district is “concerned” about many subgroups, particularly low-income students and English language learners.
“We’re really looking at students that are low-income and ELL, and seeing how their scores compare to the aggregate and what role, if any, median family income plays in that,” she said.
The district is also studying the effectiveness of wraparound services such as Steps to Success, an extended learning program that targets equity gaps in Brookline schools, Fortuna said. If these programs could be implemented for earlier grades, educators could intervene before gaps in achievement form and widen, she said.
Claire Galloway-Jones, who directs the district’s Office of Educational Equity, did not respond to a request for comment from Brookline.News.
While overarching results reflect decreases, Fortuna pointed out “pockets of excellence” within the school system, including English scores for third graders that increased by five percentage points compared to the state’s 3%. This jump reflects a positive impact on students who started school during the pandemic and have never taken the MCAS exam before, Fortuna said.
“We really do have some wonderful things that are happening and we want to replicate them in other grades and in other school buildings,” she said.