By David Fassler, Community Reporter
Hudson – School Superintendent Dr. Keith Lyons presented the 2010 statewide Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) results to the school committee during its Sept. 27 meeting.
“This is unfair,” Lyons said. “We'se sending letters out to parents in our district saying “your schools are failing”, and that's just not the case. This year schools just tumbled due to NCLB (No Child Left Behind). Ninety percent or more of all districts and schools are going to need corrective action or restructuring this year or next.”
NCLB is federal legislation that aims to improve education for all students, particularly disadvantaged students. There are a number of mandates as part of this legislation that holds states and schools accountable for the progress of their respective students.
The Obama administration has recently issued an executive order allowing schools to apply for a waiver of the NCLB requirements, provided the school has “very good accountability,” Lyons noted.
“If you took our schools with [federal] designators and compared them to other schools in other states, we would be in the top five percent,” Lyons said. “In many states the standards are lower and the tests are easier. Massachusetts is the hardest state to score proficient in, and our students are much better off than students in areas where the standards are lower.”
Lyons reported Hudson High School scored very high in the English Language Arts (ELA) and high in math and the JFK Middle School scored very high in ELA and moderate in math. Both the Farley Elementary and Forest Avenue Elementary schools scored high in ELA, while Forest Avenue scored high in math and the Farley scored moderate in the subject. The Mulready Elementary School scored high in both ELA and math.
“This year is flat in comparison to last year,” Lyons said. “It's always disappointing when you don's see the kinds of progress you like to see. We know the district is doing the right thing to build these scores in the long run. I's not saying our school district is bad. It's not, it's quite good, but we can do better.”
On a scale of one to four with one being schools in least need of support, to a four being a school with the greatest need for support, the Mulready was designated a level one school by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; while Farley, Forest Avenue, JFK, Hudson High, and the district as a whole were designated level two.
