Massachusetts Department of Education
"progress report"
inflates MCAS "pass rates" for the Class of 2004
June 8, 2004
Anne Wheelock, Senior Research Associate
Progress Through the Education Pipeline
Boston College
The Massachusetts Department of Education's "MCAS progress report," posted on
June 7, 2004 at
http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2004/results/0604cdprogrpt.pdf, reports 96%
of the class of 2004 has passed MCAS and will graduate this spring.
Because passing MCAS has been required for high school graduation for the
classes of 2003 and 2004, MCAS "pass rates" for these classes also represent
graduation rates for Massachusetts. (Starting with the class of 2005,
according to the state's application for No Child Left Behind funding,
Massachusetts will be required to report the graduation rates based on the
number of graduates divided by ninth grade enrollment four years earlier.)
Enrollment figures show that 18,232 students were lost from the class of 2004
between their enrollment in Grade 9 in october 2000 and the spring of 2004.
This represents 23% of the class of 2004.
When all original members of the class of 2004 -- not just "survivors -- are
included in the count, the MCAS "pass rate" for the all of the Class of 2004
is 74%, not 96%. Pass rates for African American and Latino students are 15
and 20 percentage points lower, respectively.
As in the past, the Massachusetts Department of Education's method of
calculating pass rates --dividing the number of students passing MCAS and
eligible for a high school diploma by the number of students remaining in
Grade 12 in March -- inflates MCAS pass rates in a way that obscures the true
status of the class of 2004.
MCAS "on-time pass rates" -- rates that reflect the capacity of schools to
help students both pass MCAS and also progress on time to graduate with the
Class of 2004 -- are as follows:
- All students: 74%,
not 96%.
- White students: 80%, not 98%.
- African American students: 59%, not
88%.
- Latino students: 54%, not 85%.
- Asian students: 89%, not 95%.
As calculated by the Massachusetts Department of Education, the more students
lost from any high school class after ninth grade, the higher the "pass rate"
for the class. If enough students leave the class between ninth grade and
spring time four years later -- because of dropping out, repeating a grade,
transferring out of state, transferring to a private or parochial school, or
other reason -- the rate could approach 100%. This would not necessarily be
cause for celebration.
The DOE's method of calculating "pass rates" for the Class of 2004 distorts
the fate of all members of the class of 2004. The state should report that
Class of 2004's pass rate to include all students who were enrolled with the
class at the outset - in ninth grade in October 2000.
Enrollment numbers, attrition rates, and on-time pass rates for the MA class
of 2004 are as follows:
All students:
-- The Mass. DOE reports that 58,756 students out of 61,338 have
passed MCAS - a rate of 96%.
-- But 79,570 students were originally enrolled in the class -- a loss of
18,232 students (22.9%).
-- The on-time MCAS pass rate/graduation rate for
the Class of 2004 is 73.8%, NOT 96%.
White students:
-- The Mass. DOE reports that 47,128 students out of 48,189 have
passed MCAS - a rate of 98%.
-- But 59,237 white students were originally enrolled in the class -- a loss
of 11,048 white students.
-- The on-time MCAS pass rate/graduation rate for
white students in the Class of 2004 is 79.6%,
NOT 98%.
African American students:
-- The Mass. DOE reports that 4,517 African American students out of
5,150 have passed MCAS - a rate of 88%.
-- But 7,673 African American students were originally enrolled in the class -
a loss of 2,523 African American students.
-- The on-time MCAS pass rate/graduation rate for
African American students in the Class of 2004 is 58.9%,
NOT 88%.
Latino students:
-- The Mass. DOE reports that 4,142 Latino students out of 4,873 have
passed MCAS - a rate of 85%.
-- But 9,073 Latino students were originally enrolled in the class - a loss of
4,200 Latino students.
-- The on-time MCAS pass rate/graduation rate for
Latino students in the class of 2004 is 53.7%,
NOT 85%.
Asian students:
-- The Mass. DOE reports that 2,833 Asian students out of 2,981 have
passed MCAS - a rate of 95%.
-- But 3,360 Asian students were originally enrolled in the class - a loss of
379 students.
-- The on-time MCAS pass rate/graduation rate for
Asian students in the class of 2004 is 88.7%,
NOT 95%.
Anne Wheelock, Senior Research Associate
Progress Through the Education Pipeline
Boston College
