District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Student Performance and College Readiness in Massachusetts

One of the Department's goals is to challenge all students to proficiency and beyond, so that our high school graduates are prepared to succeed in college and in careers. At this month's Board meeting, we will present new data on the progress our students are making towards proficiency and how students' performance on the grade 10 MCAS assessments relates to their future success in college. These data will set the stage for a discussion on the MassCore recommended high school core curriculum next month.

We will provide you with a brief overview of the 2007 statewide MCAS results, which were released on September 12. Some highlights include:

• Nearly 9 out of 10 students in the class of 2009-87 percent-passed both the English Language Arts and Mathematics assessments last spring on their first try, up from 84 percent in 2006 and 68 percent in 2001.
• In grades 3-8, the percent of students scoring Proficient or Advanced in mathematics rose by 5 to 8 percentage points; in grades 4-7, the percent of students scoring at the top 2 levels in English Language Arts increased by 3 to 6 percentage points.

Next, we will provide you with some information derived from our new School-to-College database. The database, funded by a National Governors Association grant and developed in partnership by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Board of Higher Education, allows us for the first time to track public high school graduates who enroll in the state's public colleges and universities. The database currently includes data on nearly 65,000 Massachusetts public high school graduates from the classes of 2003, 2004, and 2005 who enrolled in a Massachusetts public institution of higher education between 2003 and 2006. Information from the School-to-College Database will be provided to schools and districts in annual reports, as well as in a statewide public report, beginning this winter. We will use the database to inform policy decisions by the Department and the Board of Education.

The database is a useful tool for learning more about the connections between proficiency in high school as measured by the MCAS and readiness for college. The Board presentation will focus on one aspect of this: how proficiency relates to the need for remedial (developmental) coursework. Preliminary results indicate that about one-third of the state's public high school graduates enrolled in public higher education required at least one remedial course during their fall semester in college. More than one-quarter of the students at Needs Improvement on the grade 10 ELA assessment, and half of those at Needs Improvement on the grade 10 mathematics assessment, required remediation in that subject in college. At the same time, those students who had achieved Proficient or Advanced in high school were substantially less likely to require remediation. For instance, less than 4 percent of students scoring Proficient or Advanced on the grade 10 ELA assessment required remedial reading, and less than 10 percent required remedial writing.

This year's statewide MCAS results and the School-to-College Database results suggest that while student performance is improving substantially, students who do not reach proficiency in high school may face difficulties in succeeding in college. We will conclude by summarizing some of our efforts to challenge all students to proficiency and beyond.

2007 State MCAS Results and Preliminary Findings from the School-to-College Database Help for Viewing PowerPoint Presentation