Comparing Massachusetts's Urban Districts

In a previous post about school choice in Lynn, I pointed out that a number of school committee members keep reiterating that among similar districts Lynn is ranked first. So what are those other districts and how does Lynn compare in terms of demographics and (multiple) educational outcomes? Per the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), ten districts combine to form a cohort known as the Commissioner's Districts. These districts are: Boston, Brockton, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Springfield and Worcester. The urban districts are linked based on the following criteria:

• 10,000 or more students (Holyoke is an exception)
• Highest poverty and subgroup enrollment in the state
• Three or more schools in Corrective Action or Restructuring in the aggregate for ELA, math or both
• In Corrective Action either in the aggregate or for subgroups as a district

In terms of the populations of some key subgroups, here is how the cities compare (**ELL = English Language Learner; LEP = Limited English Proficiency; SPED = Special Education). This data was taken from the 2010-11 school year.

	Low Income	ELL	LEP	SPED
Massachusetts	34.20%	16.30%	7.10%	17.00%
Boston	74.4%	43.4%	28.0%	19.4%
Brockton	72.8%	32.9%	19.3%	13.5%
Fall River	76.6%	23.8%	5.4%	20.0%
Holyoke	82.5%	50.8%	26.0%	26.2%
Lawrence	87.1%	77.3%	23.8%	20.1%
Lowell	72.5%	43.9%	33.1%	15.4%
Lynn	78.6%	52.7%	21.6%	16.1%
New Bedford	71.2%	21.4%	4.1%	19.8%
Springfield	84.2%	24.4%	14.1%	22.8%
Worcester	70.1%	43.2%	31.8%	20.9%

Next, we compare the districts with regard to their dropout and graduation rates as well as their average number of school absences and overall attendance rate. The district with the best statistic in each category  (Worcester) is highlighted in red. Lynn ranked fourth among these districts in the dropout rate category  and third in the graduation rate. Dropout and graduation rates are from 2009-10 while school absence and attendance information is from 2010-11 (the most recent for each).

	Drop out Rate	Graduation Rate	Avg. # Absences	Attendance Rate
Massachusetts	2.9%	82.1%	9.3	94.6%
Boston	6.8%	63.2%	13.5	92%
Brockton	5.5%	66.7%	10.7	93.7%
Fall River	4.9%	66.2%	14.4	91.4%
Holyoke	9.5%	52.5%	15.1	90.5%
Lawrence	9.4%	46.7%	12.1	92.7%
Lowell	4.4%	69.4%	11.1	93.3%
Lynn	5.4%	68.5%	10.8	93.7%
New Bedford	8.1%	53.5%	12.8	92.3%
Springfield	10.5%	53%	15.1	90.8%
Worcester	3.8%	71.4%	9.8	94.2%

Listed next are the percentage of students achieving proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and math on the 2011 MCAS exam. Also highlighted in red is the district with the highest percentage in each category (Lynn); Worcester was a close second in each category.

	ELA	Math
Massachusetts	69%	58%
Boston	47%	40%
Brockton	49%	35%
Fall River	49%	37%
Holyoke	34%	27%
Lawrence	41%	28%
Lowell	47%	43%
Lynn	51%	41%
New Bedford	45%	37%
Springfield	41%	28%
Worcester	50%	40%

Finally, what do high school students in these urban districts plan to do after graduation? Listed below are four options though the DESE also tracks data in three other categories ('unknown,' 'other,' 'other post secondary). This data is from 2009-10. In that year, Lynn had the highest percentage of students join the military.

	4yr Public/Private	2yr Public/Private	Military	Work
Massachusetts	60%	22%	2%	7%
Boston	51%	19%	1%	3%
Brockton	43%	43%	2%	5%
Fall River	29%	52%	2%	15%
Holyoke	23%	52%	2%	0%
Lawrence	35%	47%	3%	6%
Lowell	47%	35%	2%	4%
Lynn	30%	50%	5%	8%
New Bedford	44%	41%	4%	7%
Springfield	28%	27%	2%	2%
Worcester	40%	41%	3%	8%

**All Data Taken From: www.doe.mass.edu