Danvers High Scores Above State Averages on MCAS, But Still Rated Level 2

Similar to the district-wide results on this past spring's MCAS exams, Danvers High School tenth-graders scored either at or above the state averages for English Language Arts, math and science/technology and engineering.

That's reflected in 91 percent of students scoring proficient or higher on ELA, 86 percent on math and 81 percent on science. The respective high school state averages are 91 percent, 80 percent and 71 percent. Those local scores are also an improvement over last year's results.

The 2012 results for Danvers High were 89 percent on ELA, 85 percent on math and 76 percent on science. The state averages increased by about the same amount from that year.

Since the science/technology and engineering exam was introduced five years ago, scores have generally increased from an initial 67 percent of students scoring proficient or higher. ELA and math scores have fluctuated up and down in that time, but are now higher than what they were in 2008.

And despite being above the state average on all three subject areas of the exam, Danvers High hasn't improved past its Level 2 rating by the state. Neighboring high schools in Peabody and at Masconomet are ranked Level 1 in comparison. Why? Because they're meeting all their progress goals set by the state.

Danvers' students MCAS scores were actually higher than in Peabody (except for ELA) this past spring, but lower than students at Masco.

This is how the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education explains how the five-level rating system now works:

Beginning with the 2012-13 school year, accountability reports changed significantly as a result of Massachusetts’ waiver of certain No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements: the NCLB goal of 100 percent proficiency was replaced with a new goal of reducing proficiency gaps by half by 2017; the NCLB accountability status labels of improvement, corrective action, and restructuring were eliminated; only state accountability and assistance levels are used for districts and schools, including charter schools; Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) has been replaced with a new performance measure (the Progress and Performance Index, or PPI) that incorporates student growth and other indicators, including science and dropout rates; and reports show a new 'high needs' subgroup, an unduplicated count of all students in a school or district belonging to at least one of the following individual subgroups: students with disabilities, English language learners (ELL) and former ELL students, or low income students."

In order to meet those target progress goals for the year, all students need to collectively achieve a 75 on the Cumulative Progress and Performance Index. At Danvers High, however, only two ethnic minority subgroups met their goal for 2013.

For all students, the final rating was a 60 and a 44 for high needs (or special education students). The two subgroups that met (and exceeded) the goal were Asian students and multi-race students (non-Hispanics or Latinos).

Take a look at how Danvers and some neighboring public high schools fared in comparison on the 2013 MCAS and how they are rated.

Danvers High School (Level 2)

• ELA: 91, Math: 86, Science: 81

• ELA: 92, Math: 79, Science: 69

• ELA: 84, Math: 64, Science: 64

• ELA: 91, Math: 81, Science: 76

• ELA: 98, Math: 97, Science: 95