Melrose Public Schools 2021 DESE Report Cards Now Available

MELROSE, MA — State report cards for the 2020-2021 school year are now available for Melrose Public Schools and the district's schools, the district said Wednesday.

The report card includes multiple measures of a school's performance – more than just MCAS scores. It represents a new way of looking at school performance by providing information on student achievement, teacher qualifications, student learning opportunities, and more.

Like most schools around the country, the 2020-2021 school year looked a little different in Burlington than in pre-pandemic years. Enrollment fell slightly from 2020 to 2021 in Melrose, but the annual dropout rate stayed the same at .3 percent.

However, chronic absenteeism - the percentage of students who miss more than 10 percent of the school year rose from 6.9% to 7.3%.

According to the district report card, Melrose schools outperformed most of the state on all metrics. In terms of MCAS scores, students in grades 3-8 did as well in English and math as students did in grade 10.

On the 0-99 student progress scale, with higher numbers meaning more progress, Melrose was on par in terms of growth in younger years, scoring a 37.8 for English grades 3-8, and 32.1 in math for grades 3-8, both of which were still higher than the rest of the state. However, students in grade 10 had much higher rates for growth, scoring 55.6 for English, higher than the state at 52.5, and 33.5 for math, lower than the state at 36.5.

Still, Melrose scored well on most metrics. In measures including attendance, college attendance, access to the arts, MassCore completion, and more, Burlington outperformed the state. While MCAS progress was low in younger years, absolute results were higher than the state average, with a larger proportion of students meeting or exceeding expectations.

Melrose's district report card and individual school metrics are available here.