September 9, 2004
MCAS passing scores, because they do not include the large number of
students who are "lost" from the Class of 2006, can only partly describe the
status of student achievement in Massachusetts. Many minority students, in
particular, are not included in MCAS testing with their class. For this
reason, grade 10 MCAS scores for, say, Latino students do not accurately
describe "Latino student achievement."
Overall, the number of students "included" in MCAS testing as 10th graders
in spring of 2004 is considerably lower than the number who were originally
enrolled in the class in 9th grade in October 2002. Attrition between
entering grade 9 and taking MCAS math in grade 10 is nearly 15% for the
Class of 2006 as a whole.
African American and Latino students are lost from the class of 2006 before
MCAS at much higher rates than for white students.
---- Attrition for white students between grad 9 and MCAS testing
is 10%.
---- Attrition for African American students is 27%, over
two and a half times the attrition rate for white.
---- Attrition for Latino students is 34%, nearly three and a
half times the attrition rate for all students.
Specifically:
ALL STUDENTS IN THE MASSACHUSETTS CLASS OF 2006
-- 82,071 students were enrolled in the class of 2006 in grade 9 in
Massachusetts schools, Oct. 2002
-- 70,131 10th graders are "included" in MCAS scores for 2004 (35,297 males
[Table 24]; 34,834 females [Table 23]
http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2004/results/summary.pdf)
-- 11,940 students have gone "missing"
from the class between grade 9 and testing time
-- 14.5% of all students have been lost from the class
of 2006 between grade 9 and testing time
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN THE CLASS OF 2006
-- 8,117 African American students were enrolled in the class of
2006 in grade 9 in Massachusetts schools, Oct. 2002
-- 5,945 African American 10th graders are "included" in MCAS scores for
2004 (Table 18; http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2004/results/summary.pdf)
-- 2,172 African American students have gone
"missing" from the class between grade 9 and testing time
-- 26.8% of African American students have been lost
from the class of 2006 between grade 9 and testing time
LATINO STUDENTS IN THE CLASS OF 2006
-- 9,874 Latino students were enrolled in the class of 2006 in grade
9 in Massachusetts schools, Oct. 2002
-- 6,489 African American 10th graders are "included" in MCAS scores for
2004 (Table 20; http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2004/results/summary.pdf)
-- 3,385 Latino students have gone "missing"
from the class between grade 9 and testing time
-- 34.3% of Latino students have been lost from the
class of 2006 between grade 9 and testing time
WHITE STUDENTS IN THE CLASS OF 2006
-- 60,095 white students were enrolled in the class of 2006 in grade
9 in Massachusetts schools, Oct. 2002
-- 54,193 white 10th graders are "included" in MCAS scores for 2004 (Table
22; http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2004/results/summary.pdf)
-- 5,902 white students have gone "missing"
from the class between grade 9 and testing time
-- 9.8% of white students have been lost from the
class of 2006 between grade 9 and testing time
Anne Wheelock, Senior Research Associate
Progress Through the Education Pipeline Project,
Boston College
