MCAS Results Improve, But Many Grads Unprepared
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — Massachusetts education officials say while scores on standardized MCAS tests continue to improve, many of the state's high school graduates are not fully prepared for college level coursework.
Gov. Deval Patrick's administration announced Wednesday that the percentages of 10th graders scoring proficient or higher on the MCAS exams were 91 percent in the English portion, 80 percent in mathematics and 71 percent in science.
Still, officials say 40 percent of high school graduates who enroll in public colleges and universities in Massachusetts require developmental, non-credit coursework to keep up.
The state also announced that 14 of 34 public schools labeled as "underperforming" in 2010 were removed from the list after a three-year turnaround program.
"The core significance of this announcement is that low-performance for our children is not preordained," Michael Chester, commissioner of the Department of Education said.
Four of the schools that did not improve will be considered for stronger state action.
Those schools include Dever Elementary and Holland Elementary in Boston, Morgan School in Holyoke and Parker Elementary in New Bedford.
