Wakefield Public Schools 2021 DESE Report Cards Now Available

WAKEFIELD, MA — State report cards for the 2020-2021 school year are now available for Wakefield 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 Wakefield than in pre-pandemic years. Enrollment fell slightly from 2020 to 2021 in Wakefield, chronic absenteeism rose over 3.6 percent, next-year college attendance fell over 5 percent and the annual dropout rate rose from .3% to .7%.

According to the district report card, Wakefield schools outperformed most of the state on all metrics. In terms of MCAS scores, students in grades 10 did better in both math and English than students in grades 3-8.

On the 0-99 student progress scale, with higher numbers meaning more progress, Wakefield had low numbers in terms of growth in younger years, scoring a 36.3 for English grades 3-8, and 28.5 in math grades 3-8. However, students in grade 10 scored 58.3 for English and 42.5 for math, both higher than the state average, and math was significantly higher.

Still, Wakefield scored well on most metrics. In measures including attendance, college attendance, access to the arts, MassCore completion, and more, Wakefield 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.

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