By Carol Britton Meyer

School administrators this week outlined to the school committee areas of student achievement as well as concerns requiring intervention related to this year’s scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.

As reported previously in The Hull Times, the Hull Public Schools was recently recognized by the state for reaching pre-pandemic levels of academic achievement, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Hull was one of 63 school districts to reach this milestone with regard to this year’s MCAS results.

The Lillian M. Jacobs School was one of only 22 schools in the state to reach this milestone in English Language Arts.

However, at the Jacobs School, math scores declined for the first time in four years, and at the high school, fewer students met expectations in both English and math.

Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Christine Cappadona prefaced this week’s MCAS testing presentation to the school committee by explaining the district’s accountability system.

Such a system “brings together a set of measures in order to provide clear, actionable information about district and school performance,” she said. “Massachusetts’ system helps schools improve the performance of all students and helps communities and the state decide how to assign resources.”

The MCAS is a standardized test administered annually in English language arts (Grades 3-8, 10), mathematics (Grades 3-8, 10), and science (Grades 5, 8, and 10). MCAS seeks to assess whether students are exceeding, meeting, partially meeting, or not meeting grade level standards in each of the tested content areas.

Click here for the full presentation from Monday’s meeting

Click here for a summary of the results produced by school administrators

Last November, Massachusetts voters approved a ballot question that removed the MCAS test as a requirement for graduation. As a result, a committee appointed by the governor is expected to make initial recommendations for a new high school graduation standard by the end of the year.

Jacobs School Principal Kyle Shaw and Hull High School Principal Robert Shaw presented the MCAS results for their individual schools at this week’s school committee meeting.

“I stand here in great admiration of Jacobs’ teachers and our families’ dedication, and I am incredibly proud of our hardworking students – not just because of the MCAS results, but for the little things that happen over time and lead to the positive news I have to share tonight,” Kyle Shaw said prior to his presentation.

Following the presentation of the results, Shaw said the Jacobs School is “embarking on a collaboration with staff to figure out how we can get better. We’ll do everything possible to keep this upward momentum moving in the right direction.”

“This is our public profile and what is reported when people are looking up what the Hull Public Schools are like,” Superintendent of Schools Michael Jette said. “These trends are in the right direction, and continuing to support that work is what we want to see happening.”

Following his presentation, Robert Shaw outlined action steps for students related to curriculum and support for staff at the high school.

For students, these include a focus on writing from research, implementation of a standardized math curriculum, development of standards-aligned end-of-year course assessments, dual-enrollment courses through Quincy College, and expansion of Advanced Placement course offerings.

Support for staff includes peer observations, departmental collaboration time, learning walks, and enhanced communication.

Conversations about the MCAS results will continue in the weeks to come, administrators said.

A recording of the school committee meeting featuring the MCAS presentation is available on Hull Community Television’s website, hulltv.net.

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