MCAS Scores Tell a Story of Diversity and Success in Newton

What do the MCAS scores reveal about Newton? One of the big draws for us to move to Newton is the ethnic and socio-economic diversity which is rare in metro west suburbs of Boston.

While the numbers don’t lie, there is back story. Given that Newton has a large degree of kids who speak English as a second language, it’s understandable that their scores would be lower in elementary school as they master two languages. Newton public schools scores handily outperform Massachusetts by 20 percentage points (give or take a few) across all grades and subjects.

What is really interesting (and great!) is that by 10th grade, 96% of students are proficient or higher in English, 94% in Math, and 87% in Science/Engineering. My daughter’s English/Social Studies teacher at Day Middle School raised her three kids in Newton, and, due to redistricting, had two kids in Newton South High School and one graduating from Newton North. She said, “Kids get a great education in Newton no matter where they go.” The numbers concur!

Data is from Department of Education.

Compared to most of Boston’s Metro West suburbs, Newton has a diverse population with significant Asian, African American and Hispanic populations. The elementary schools with Level 2 Assistance and Accountability is due to a  large proportion of English as a second language students. Newton provides the support they need as evidenced by high overall scores in 10th grade.

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