MCAS Scores Slip In Pandemic Year: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Tuesday, Sept. 21. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• The spring MCAS scores are out, and they are on balance worse than the last time the standardized tests were administered before the pandemic.
• Somerville police arrested a man in connection with shots fired outside a local convenience store. Police said the suspect fired at two men who chased him after an apparent drug deal gone bad.
• Niche named the Malden Public Schools the most diverse district in the state. The rankings also recognized two Malden schools as being among the most diverse public schools.
• The operator of the Green Line train that crashed into another train near Agganis Arena on July 30 placed the master controller in 'full-power position' prior to the accident which injured 27 people, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report.
• The 29-year-old disgraced former mayor of Fall River was sentenced to six years in prison for crimes of corruption at City Hall.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

MCAS.

The spring scores for the standardized test that many hate and others tolerate were released this morning, and the big picture wasn't promising.

State education officials said results showed that "many more students had gaps in their knowledge of math and, to a lesser extent, English language arts" compared to scores from 2019, which was the last year MCAS was administered. The test was skipped in 2020 due to the pandemic forcing a shift to remote learning.

This is how the State House News Service summed up the results:

The percentage of students in third through eighth grade receiving a score of "meeting expectations" or higher in math and English each dropped from 2019, the most recent previous year the test was given after the exams were skipped in 2020 amid the sudden pivot to remote learning.

In math, the percentage fell from 49 percent in 2019 to 33 percent in 2021, while for the English language arts test, it dropped from 52 percent in 2019 to 46 percent in 2021.

The percentage of 10th graders scoring at least in the "meeting expectations" category ticked upwards to 64 percent this year, from 61 percent in 2019. The amount of 10th grade students reaching that level on their math tests fell, however, dropping to 52 percent from 59 percent.

Read more here.

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Also Today

BREAKING: Jasiel Correia, the 29-year-old former mayor of Fall River who left office amid scandal, was sentenced to six years in prison for crimes of corruption during his messy tenure at City Hall. The sentencing comes even after Correia had eight convictions vacated by a federal judge Monday.

Man Charged In Shooting Near Somerville Convenience Store: A Weymouth man is facing weapons and assault charges in connection with a shooting near a Somerville convenience store earlier this month. Police said Devonte McCormick, 23, fired at two men in a parking lot next to the Central Convenience Store on Sept. 8.

Malden Most Diverse School District In MA, According To Niche: The Malden Public Schools is the most diverse school district in Massachusetts, and two of its schools are among the most diverse in the state, according to Niche's 2022 rankings of best schools. Niche gave Malden an A+ grade for racial and economic diversity, based on survey responses on school culture and diversity from students and parents.

'Full-power position': The operator of the Green Line train that crashed into another train near Agganis Arena on July 30 placed the master controller in 'full-power position' prior to the accident, which injured 27 people, said the National Transportation Safety Board in a preliminary report Tuesday. According to federal investigators, the striking train was going 31 miles per hour, three times the speed limit, when it crashed into another going 10 miles per hour.

Don't look now, but the rescheduled Boston Marathon is in less than three weeks. If you're running or know someone with an interesting story who is, email alex.newman@patch.com.

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