Comparing Urban Districts: Special Populations 2012-13

Last year, we compared Massachusetts' ten Commissioner's Districts in a number of areas including MCAS proficiency rates, average number of absences, and graduation rates. Here is a comparison of these districts in terms of their special populations using the most recent data from the 2012-13 school year.

*FLnE = First Language not English

*LEP = Limited English Proficiency

*SPED = Special Education 

	Low Income	FLnE*	LEP*	SPED*
Massachusetts	37.0%	17.3%	7.7%	17.0%
Boston	71.7%	45.4%	30.7%	19.2%
Brockton	77.1%	35.4%	19.8%	13.2%
Fall River	77.9%	22.0%	7.1%	22.4%
Holyoke	84.7%	53.3%	26.7%	25.4%
Lawrence	84.9%	72.5%	24.5%	21.1%
Lowell	75.0%	41.7%	31.3%	15.3%
Lynn	82.6%	54.2%	17.5%	16.4%
New Bedford	73.4%	21.6%	4.6%	22.2%
Springfield	87.5%	26.1%	16.9%	19.2%
Worcester	73.1%	44.0%	34.3%	20.7%

• Of these districts, Springfield has the highest percentage of low income students.
• Lawrence has the highest percentage of First Language not English students.
• Worcester has the highest percentage of Limited English proficiency.
• Holyoke has the highest percentage of Special Education students. 

In previous posts, we compared the graduation and drop out rates of these districts as well as their MCAS proficiency rates.

• Lowell had the lowest dropout rate among these districts in 2012 (3.8%)
• Brockton had the highest graduation rate in 2012 (74.5%)
• Worcester had the highest English Language Arts/Reading proficiency rate in 2012 (51%)
• Lowell had the highest Math proficiency rate in 2012 (44%)

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


You may also be interested in:

• Urban District Graduation and Drop out Rates 2011-12
• Lynn MCAS Results 2012: Part 1 
• Lynn Sees Decline in Limited English Proficiency Student Population; KIPP Sees an Increase

MA DESE DART Analysis Tool: Comparing Schools & Districts

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has added a new information tool to the district and school level data available on their website under DART (District Analysis and Review Tool) - Analysis. This tab allows one to view districts or schools most comparable to his or her child(ren)'s own based on the district or school's grade span, total enrollment and special populations. According to the DESE, the school districts most comparable to Lynn are: 

• Boston
• Chicopee
• Everett
• Fall River
• Lawrence
• Lowell
• Malden
• Revere
• Springfield 
• Worcester

A school district like Swampscott, on the other hand, is most similar to districts such as Ashland, Bedford, Dracut, and Seekonk.

The analysis tool also allows you to see the district's as well as the comparable districts' total enrollments and low income, special education and English Language Learner populations. MCAS proficiency rates and growth scores for these districts are provided as well. See here for an example: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/analysis/default.aspx?orgcode=01630000&orgtypecode=5&

The tool provides even more detail as it allows you to look at comparisons for individual schools based on the same criteria (total enrollment, special population, grade span). It is interesting to note that within districts, schools that cover the same grade spans will have different comparable schools based on their specific populations. For example, some of Marshall's (Lynn) comparable schools are Roosevelt Middle School (New Bedford), Sullivan Middle School (Worcester) and Breed Middle School (also Lynn) while Pickering's most comparable schools include John T Reid Middle School (Pittsfield), Gardner Middle School (Gardner) and Mary E Wells Jr. High (Southbridge).  Further a school like Sisson had comparable schools in towns like Attleboro, Dennis-Yarmouth and Weymouth while Ford had comparables in cities such as Brockton, Chelsea and Lawrence. 

To view comparables for your school or district, see:  http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/