Framingham Students Performed Lower on PARCC Exams Compared To Rest of Massachusetts

On average, students who took the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams across the state did better than Framingham students, who took the PARCC exams.

In Massachusetts, 60 percent of the students met or exceeded expectations, on the English Language Arts (ELA) exam, compared to 54 percent of Framingham students.

In the Commonwealth, 52 percent of the students met or exceeded expectations on the math exam, compared to 43 percent of Framingham students.

See attached chart on comparable results, which was provided by Framingham Public Schools.

This was Framingham’s first year participating in the PARCC program. Some school districts across the state chose to have students continue to take the MCAS exam. The Framingham School Committee and Framingham Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott however endorsed PARCC over MCAS.

In Framingham, students in grades 3-8 took the PARCC exam in ELA and math.

Grade 10 students continued to take the MCAS exam, as it is a requirement for graduation in Massachusetts. Framingham High recently released MCAS scores, and the school performed well.

Also, Framingham grade 8 students took the MCAS exam in science, as there was no PARCC equivalent.

A majority of Framingham students, took a paper and pen version of the PARCC exam. Students at Fuller Middle School took the PARCC exam on the computer.

Compared to the MCAS exam, PARCC is a timed test.

A press release from the Framingham Public Schools pointed out this is the “first time Framingham students participated in a timed achievement test.”

Compared to students across the Commonwealth, 7 percent of Framingham students did not meet expectations (the lowest scoring level) compared to 6 percent of the state, in the ELA exam.

In Framingham, 8 percent of the students who took the math exam did not meet expectations (level 1 status), compared to 6 percent of the state, in the math exam.

The same Framingham Public Schools press release stated “Initial district analysis shows that student growth in both English language arts (ELA) and math exceed state Student Growth Percentiles (SGP). ​The transitional median Student Growth Percentile (SGP) is used to measure how well students performed compared to statewide peers who performed similarly over the past two years. Framingham SGP is eight percentile points higher than the state average in ELA, and three percentile points higher than the state average in mathematics.”

Next week, the Massachusetts Board of Education will take a vote to decide if the Commonwealth will continue with the PARCC exam, stick with the MCAS exam, or compromise on a different exam for students.

As this was the first year that Framingham participated in the PARCC exams, districts were told they would not be held accountable, if students achievement decreased.

The state will update accountability status for all districts, including Framingham, and individual schools next month.

Framingham was categorized as a needs improvement - or level 3 - district by the state before the PARCC exam.

Framingham can not move a level down as a district, despite test scores that were worse than the state on PARCC.

Individual schools can improve a level. For example, a level 2 school can become a level 1 schools. But an individual school can not be lowered from say a level 2 school to a needs improvement level 3 school.

Progress and Performance Index scores (PPI), however, will be calculated this year for the sake of continuity and for accountability determinations in future years, according to the state.

Initial PARCC data was released the week of November 9.

Individual student reports will be available electronically later this month and via paper in December.

The Framingham Public Schools press release said the l district and its schools will analyze data in order to:

● Identify strengths and weaknesses in curriculum and instruction

● Identify interventions and/or enrichment for students

● Use as one piece of valuable information among many others available