By Dakota Antelman — Dakota@theconcordbridge.org
Concord’s latest Advanced Placement and MCAS test results show plenty of reason for celebration, district administrators say. Amid the good news, though, there is cause for concern about low minority participation in high-level programming.
Even where the MCAS scores are nearly perfect, administrators are also still focused on recovering from the pandemic.
“There are definite achievement gaps that we’re working on,” Superintendent Laurie Hunter told the School Committee on November 6. “And we saw some progress in certain spaces.”
MCAS results
The School Committee heard from Hunter and interim director of teaching and learning Shelly Chin in a presentation of recent assessment data, including MCAS scores, Advanced Placement test results, and more.
Across the board, 2024 MCAS scores placed each of Concord’s schools in the “meeting or exceeding targets” category of the state’s accountability system.
Thoreau Elementary School had the highest score, landing in the 97th percentile among Massachusetts schools. Concord Middle School had the lowest, ranking in the 88th percentile.
“Kudos to the educators and leaders across the district because it takes a lot of work and effort,” Chin said.
Chin said variability in scores among schools is normal because different schools have different students, programs, and special education needs. Despite the differences, she said most students still showed “typical to high growth.”
Hunter said officials are working with special education teachers and administrators to accommodate students while retaining high expectations. At the same time, she said Concord-Carlisle High School made “double-digit” gains to close achievement gaps.
“We still have a long way to go, but we started seeing some really great growth,” she said.
Room for improvement
Thoreau School principal Justin Sparks told The Concord Bridge he was “thrilled” by his school’s district-leading results. “I shouldn’t have been surprised,” he said, “but I was pleasantly surprised. We have a lot of really strong teachers here.”
Still, Sparks said school officials see room for improvement in categories such as English language arts. “We’re trying to get back to pre-pandemic [levels] and surpass pre-pandemic,” he said.
He said leaders are also digging into data to see which students might need extra support.
AP results
At CCHS, even as enrollment dips, the number of students taking AP exams is on the rise, district data shows.
In 2020, 269 students sat for at least one test. Earlier this calendar year, 376 students took a total of 839 tests. The passing rate for CCHS AP exams has remained between roughly 92 and 94 percent.
“I think that’s really strong,” Chin said.
Alongside the bright spots, officials said they hope to see more diversity among AP test takers.
- Though they account for 3.7 percent of the CCHS student body, Black students took just 0.83 percent of the school’s AP tests in 2024, according to a review of district figures and enrollment statistics from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
- Hispanic students are 6.3 percent of the student body but took 4.17 percent of the AP tests.
- Low-income students make up 8.5 percent of CCHS but took only 3.4 percent of the school’s tests.
CCHS School Committee METCO representative Domingos DaRosa asked for more data and said he was concerned about the lack of minority participation.
Concord resident Dr. Michael Williams echoed DaRosa. He also voiced frustration with administrators, telling The Bridge, “It’s not even good lip service.”
‘Fundamental issues’
Williams, whose children graduated from Concord schools, has criticized officials’ handling of the METCO program in recent years. Speaking after last week’s School Committee meeting, he said the number of minority students taking AP exams should be higher.
“What is wrong with this picture?” he asked. “You had 12-13 years to form a student. … There’s so many fundamental issues.”
Hunter said administrators agree with DaRosa’s concerns and are working to respond. And Chin said test results show students can thrive in challenging curricula.
“So, the goal really is to encourage, support, and promote more students,” she said.
Said Hunter, “Each department is really going to make its own plan, but they’re facing those data points and really strategizing them now.”
