Some MA Districts Post High Out-of-School Suspension Rates

Below is a list of the top 20 Massachusetts school districts with the highest out of school suspension rates for school year 2011-12. Individual charter schools are considered separate districts by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

1. Roxbury Preparatory Charter: 56.1%
2. Grove Hall Preparatory Charter: 50%
3. City on a Hill Charter: 43.6%
4. Up Academy Charter Boston: 38%
5. New Leadership Charter: 36.6%
6. Boston Preparatory Charter: 35.1%
7. Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter: 32.1%
8. Holyoke: 27.3%
9. Edward Brooke Charter: 24.9%
10. Hampden Charter School of Science: 24.7%
11. Codman Academy Charter: 23.5%
12. Spirit of Knowledge Charter: 22.8%
13. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School of Excellence: 22.5%
14. Edward Brooke Charter 2: 22.4%
15. Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter: 19.4%
16. Community Charter School of Cambridge: 19.4%
17. Fall River: 18.4%
18. Berkshires Arts and Technology Academy: 18.1%
19. Excel Academy Charter Chelsea: 17.9%
20. Franklin County Regional Vocational Technical Institute: 17.6%

Citation: www.doe.mass.edu

LPS: Achievement Gap in 3rd Grade Reading

Here it was noted that there was a 29-point difference in 3rd grade reading proficiency rates between low income and non-low income students in the Lynn public school system. Below are the proficiency rates at this level by school; all numbers are in percentages. The positive or negative numbers in parentheses indicates the difference from the individual school's overall proficiency rate. In 2012, 41% of 3rd grade students citywide scored proficient or higher on the reading exam.

*N/A - Data is not reported for sample sizes less than 10.
**No data at the individual grade levels was reported for Washington

	Low Income	Non-Low Income
Aborn	56 (-16)	90 (+18)
Brickett	39 (-4)	54 (+11)
Callahan	31 (-4)	53 (+18)
Cobbet	24 (-2)	N/A
Connery	23 (-12)	N/A
Drewicz	46 (0)	N/A
Ford	31 (0)	N/A
Harrington	28 (+3)	10 (-15)
Hood	47 (-5)	70 (+18)
Ingalls	39 (-1)	N/A
Lincoln-Thomson	42 (-11)	80 (+27)
Lynn Woods	20 (-28)	65 (+17)
Sewell Anderson	42 (-4)	60 (+14)
Shoemaker	36 (-15)	61 (+10)
Sisson	71 (-5)	82 (+6)
Tracy	22 (-6)	N/A
Washington**	N/A	N/A

The school with the largest gap between low income and non-low income students was Lynn Woods (45 points) while the school with the smallest gap was Sisson (11 points). Harrington was the only school were low income students had a higher proficiency rate than non-low income students.

For low income students, Aborn, Drewicz, Hood, Lincoln-Thomson, Sewall Anderson and Sisson all had higher proficiency rates than the city's overall 3rd grade reading proficiency rate. The proficiency rate specifically for low income students in Lynn as a whole was 36% (a 5-point difference from the aggregate).

All of the schools with available data except Harrington had a higher proficiency rate than the city for the non-low income subgroup. This figure was 65% just for non-low income students.

Citation: www.doe.mass.edu

Full Lynn MCAS Score Breakdown by Subgroup

On the 2012 MCAS, the Lynn Public School system's scores were distributed in the following way (all numbers are in percentages):

	Adv.	Prof.	NI	W
ELA	7	43	33	17
Math	12	28	34	26

Key
Adv. = Advanced (scores 260 - 280)
Prof. = Proficient (scores 240 - 259)
NI = Needs Improvement (scores 220 - 239)
W = Warning/Failure (scores 200 - 219)



The distribution of scores, however, varied depending on the subgroup. See below for ELA breakdown by subgroup for the city.

	Adv.	Prof.	NI	W
Students w/ Disabilities	0	16	33	50
High Needs	5	40	35	20
ELL	0	13	46	41
Former ELL	3	44	39	13
Low Income	5	41	35	19
Non-Low Income	16	51	22	10
Title I	6	42	34	17
Non-Title I	21	53	11	15
Afr Amer/Black	7	42	32	19
Asian	8	43	36	12
Hispanic/Latino	4	38	37	21
Multi-Race,Non-Hisp/Lat.	10	47	26	17
White	14	52	24	11
Male	5	39	34	21
Female	9	46	31	13

Based on the Cumulative Performance Indices (CPI), LPS performed better than the state in the  African American, Hispanic/Latino, Title I  and ELL/Former ELL (combined) subgroup categories. Here we see that Female students performed better than Males with a higher percentage in the advanced and proficient categories. Additionally, this data indicates that half of all Students with Disabilities received a 'Warning/Failing' grade on the ELA exam. Not surpprisingly, the breakdowns differed at the individual school level. At Cobbet, for example, 33% of African American students were proficient (excluding the advanced category) in ELA while 82% were proficient at Aborn. At Classical, 91% of Non-Low Income students achieved an advanced or proficient score.

In 3rd Grade Reading, which has been pinpointed as a marker for future academic success, 58% of White students were proficient or better while 41% of African American/Black students, 40% of Asian students, 32% of Hispanic/Latino students were proficient or better.  There was a 29% difference between Low Income and Non-Low Income students at this level (36% vs. 65%).

Below is the breakdown for Math by subgroup.

	Adv.	Prof.	NI	W
Students w/ Disabilities	1	8	25	65
High Needs	9	25	36	30
ELL	2	13	35	50
Former ELL	9	30	38	22
Low Income	9	26	36	29
Non-Low Income	21	35	27	17
Title I	11	27	36	27
Non-Title I	28	33	17	22
Afr Amer/Black	9	23	34	34
Asian	20	33	31	17
Hispanic/Latino	8	24	37	31
Multi-Race,Non-Hisp/Lat.	17	24	32	27
White	17	35	30	18
Male	12	27	33	29
Female	12	28	36	24

According to the CPIs, Lynn did better than the state in the Hispanic/Latino subgroup and the Title I subgroup. Unlike the ELA portion of the exam, Males and Females performed equally on the math exam. Math scores also varied by school such that 0% of Asian students at Ford received a 'Warning/Failing' grade while 11% of Asian students at Drewicz fell into this category. At the middle school level, 46% of Low Income students were proficient or higher in math while this statistic was 34% at Pickering and 17% at Marshall.

Citation: www.doe.mass.edu

Some Bright Spots In Achievement Among Subgroups in the Lynn Schools

While Lynn's 2012 MCAS scores were a mixed bag in terms of increases in some areas and decreases in others, there were some bright spots among the schools' subgroups this year. The percentile refer to the school's performance in the specific subgroup category relative to other schools statewide that serve the same grade span (percentiles range from 1 - 99). For example, a subgroup performace that is greater than 75% of schools serving common grades statewide is at the 75th percentile.

Aborn

• 94th Percentile in ELA for High Needs Students
• 97th Percentile in ELA for Low Income Students
• 96th Percentile in ELA for Hispanic/Latino Students
• 94th Percentile in ELA for White Students
• 91st Percentile in Math for High Needs Students
• 96th Percentile in Math for Low Income Students
• 96th Percentile in Math for Hispanic/Latino Students

Brickett

• 76th Percentile in Math for ELL/Former ELL Students

Callahan

• 80th Percentile in Math for Hispanic/Latino Students
• 85th Percentile in ELA for Hispanic/Latino Students 

Connery

• 74th Percentile in Math for Hispanic/Latino Students

Ford

• 74th Percentile in ELA for ELL/Former ELL Students
• 66th Percentile in ELA for Hispanic/Latino Students
• 83rd Percentile in Science for ELL/Former ELL Students
• 61st Percentile in Science for Hispanic/Latino Students

Harrington

• 80th Percentile in Science for ELL/Former ELL Students

Ingalls

• 96th Percentile in ELA for Students w/ Disabilities
• 85th Percentile in ELA for ELL/Former ELL Students
• 97th Percentile in Math for Students w/ Disabilities
• 81st Percentile in Math for High Needs Students
• 86th Percentile in Math for ELL/Former ELL Students
• 87th Percentile in Math for Hispanic/Latino Students
• 90th Percentile in Science for ELL/Former ELL Students
• 90th Percentile in Science for Hispanic/Latino Students

Lincoln-Thomson

• 94th Percentile in ELA for Hispanic/Latino Students
• 92nd Percentile in Math for Hispanic/Latino Students

Lynn Classical

• 91st Percentile in ELA for White Students
• 81st Percentile in ELA for Hispanic/Latino Students
• 93rd Percentile in Science for Hispanic/Latino Students

Lynn English

• 69th Percentile in Math for Black/African American Students

Sewall Anderson

• 91st Percentile for in ELA for ELL/Former ELL Students
• 89th Percentile in ELA for Hispanic Students
• 84th Percentile for in ELA Low Income Students
• 82nd Percentile in ELA for High Needs Students
• 92nd Percentile in Math for Low Income Students
• 96th Percentile in Math for Students with Disabilities
• 92nd Percentile in Math for Hispanic/Latino Students

Shoemaker

• 97th Percentile in ELA for High Needs Students
• 99th Percentile in ELA for Low Income Students
• 99th Percentile in ELA for Students w/ Disabilities
• 96th Percentile in Math for High Needs Students
• 97th Percentile in Math for Low Income Students
• 97th Percentile in Math for Students w/ Disabilities 

Sisson

• 95th Percentile in ELA for High Needs Students
• 95th Percentile in ELA for Low Income Students
• 96th Percentile in ELA ELL/Former ELL Students
• 93rd Percentile in ELA for Hispanic/Latino Students
• 96th Percentile in Math for High Needs Students
• 98th Percentile in Math for Low Income Students
• 97th Percentile in Math for ELL/Former ELL Students
• 96th Percentile in Math for Hispanic/Latino Students

 Tracy

• 75th Percentile in Math for High Needs Students
• 80th Percentile in Math for Hispanic/Latino Students

Salem MCAS Results 2012

Below are Salem's proficiency rates (advanced and proficient scores combined) on the 2012 MCAS  for the district as a whole and then by school. All proficiency rates are in percentages; positive or negative numbers in parentheses in the  grade level or 'ALL' fields represent the percent change from 2011. Also included is each school's Accountability and Assistance Level. Accountability levels are as follows:

• Level 1:  On track to college and career readiness
• Level 2:  Not meeting gap closing goals
• Level 3:  Focus: Lowest performing 20% of schools (including schools with the largest gaps)
• Level 4:  Priority: Lowest performing schools
• Level 5:  Priority: Chronically under-performing schools

'School Performance' refers to the school's overall performance relative to other schools statewide that serve the same grade span (percentiles range from 1 - 99). For example, a school performance that is greater than 75% of schools serving common grades statewide is at the 75th percentile.

In terms of demographics, Salem was 11.3% Limited English Proficiency, 24.9% First Language not English,  57.7% Low Income, and 23.1% Special Education in 2011-12. There were 4,459 students in SPS during the last school year.

SALEM (DISTRICT)

	ELA	Math
3	45 (-1)	47 (+1)
4	36 (+1)	38 (+8)
5	46 (-6)	43  (+3)
6	48 (-6)	40 (-5)
7	59 (-1)	36 (0)
8	70 (+2)	41 (+7)
10	77 (+11)	60 (+1)
All	53 (+1)	43 (-1)

BY SCHOOL

BATES

	ELA	Math
3	42	36
4	34	51
5	46	56
All	40 (-10)	48 (-4)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 2 (up from Level 3)
• School Performance: 23rd Percentile

BENTLEY

	ELA	Math
3	35	35
4	21	21
5	36	27
All	30 (-1)	27 (+1)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 4
• School Performance: 4th Percentile

CARLTON

	ELA	Math
3	39	34
4	27	30
5	61	36
All	39 (-1)	33 (-3)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 3
• Focus on Students w/ Disabilities; Low income 
• School Performance: 8th Percentile

COLLINS

	ELA	Math
6	50	41
7	60	36
8	69	39
All	60 (0)	38 (+1)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 3
•  Focus on Students w/disabilities; Hispanic/Latino; ELL or Former ELL 
• School Performance: 13th Percentile 

HORACE MANN

	ELA	Math
3	40	40
4	56	52
5	37	37
All	44 (-4)	43 (+6)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 2
• School Performance: 27th Percentile

NATHANIEL BOWDITCH

	ELA	Math
3	37	44
4	31	31
5	35	31
6	24	29
7	56	24
8	78	48
All	42 (-4)	35 (+2)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 3
• Focus on Hispanic/Latino; ELL or Former ELL
• School Performance: 15th Percentile

SALEM ACADEMY CHARTER

	ELA	Math
6	64	74
7	60	62
8	89	59
10	92	92
All	75 (-4)	70 (+8)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 1

SALEM HIGH

	ELA	Math
10	80 (+12)	63 (+2)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 3
• School Performance: 11th Percentile

SALTONSTALL

	ELA	Math
3	61	61
4	39	38
5	53	46
6	75	64
7	70	48
8	88	64
All	63 (-3)	52 (+2)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 3
• Very low MCAS participation (Less than 90%)
• Focus on Hispanic/Latino, High Needs and Aggregate
• School Performance: 57th Percentile

WITCHCRAFT HEIGHTS

	ELA	Math
3	63	75
4	52	46
5	66	65
All	61 (+5)	63 (+4)

• Accountability and Assistance Level: Level 2
• School Performance: 58th Percentile

Citation: www.doe.mass.edu