Lynnfield Far Above State Average In Most MCAS Categories

Lynnfield students outperformed the state average in almost every category of Spring 2011 MCAS testing, according to data provided by a state website.

The testing applies to students in grades 3-8 and also in 10th grade, covering basics like English, math and science. Based on test results, student performance is measured in the following categories: advanced, proficient, needs improvement, and warning/failing.

This link offers a complete look at how Lynnfield students did by grade and subject, and also against the statewide averages.

In no subject or grade did Lynnfield students exceed (or really even come close to exceeding) state averages in the "warning/failing" category. In the sixth grade math category, 30 percent of Lynnfield students were in the "needs improvement" category, compared to the 25 percent statewide average. In grade 8, the mathematics score was within two points of the state average for "needs improvement," and the science/technology/engineering score was within 1 point of the state average for "needs improvement." In most other grades and categories, Lynnfield had a far lower percentage of students scoring in the "needs improvement" category than the state average.

A look at the "proficient or higher" category offers further insight into Lynnfield's performance against the state average. In grade 10 English/language arts, 96 percent of students placed in this category, compared to 84 percent statewide. The 10th graders' performance was strong overall, with 89 percent deemed proficient or advanced in math (74 percent statewide) and 90 percent scoring high in science/technology/engineering (67 percent statewide). The town's third graders also excelled in the math category, with 92 percent proficient or higher compared to 61 percent statewide.

Overall, Lynnfield students beat the statewide average by upwards of 20 percentage points in many categories, and in some cases, such as 4th grade English and math, by more than 30 percentage points.

A separate chart from the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides a look at how Lynnfield students have scored on MCAS over the past several years. For example, while 61 percent of 10th graders scored "advanced" in English/language arts this year, that number stood at only 47 percent back in 2008, rising each year since then. This grade saw a significant jump in advanced science/technology students as well, a figure that rose from 25 percent in 2008 to 47 percent in 2011.

The graphics also indicate that while the number of advanced students in the grade 8 math test has risen from 31 to 36 percent in the past four school years, the number of proficient students has fallen from 45 to 25 percent, the percentage in need of improvement has risen from 16 to 25 percent. The percent scoring in the "warning" category rose from 8 to 14 percent between 2008 and 2011.

The previously mentioned figures are comparable in 8th grade science and technology as well. The number of students in the "warning" category stood at 14 percent in 2011, up from 6 percent in 2008, while the number scoring "proficient" was down from 57 percent in 2008 to 40 percent this spring.

In the third grade math testing, significant improvement has been made in the "needs improvement" category, but the number of students in the advanced category was 30 percent this year compared to 54 percent in 2008. Another significant jump can be seen in 5th grade English/language arts, where 38 percent are now in the advanced category, compared to 19 percent in 2008.