Andover Public Schools Superintendent Magda Parvey said district officials are “overall…pleased with the results” for MCAS tests released last week, while acknowledging there is a lingering impact from the disruption to schools during 2020 and 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“As we take a measured look through our MCAS results, we continue to see the impact of the pandemic in some areas,” Parvey said in a note to families sent late Friday. “As a result, we will continue to make targeted, data-driven decisions that address any gaps in learning for all of our students.”
Parvey and other officials will discuss the results in-depth at the school committee meeting scheduled for Oct. 20. APS MCAS test scores improved between 2021 and 2022 but, like school districts across the state, have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the 2022 results on Thursday, and officials warned a statewide drop in English scores is a sign it may be “years” before Massachusetts students recover from the school disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic. Last spring’s test was the second administered after the 2020 exams were canceled when schools abruptly shifted to a remote learning model.
“While we are still reviewing and analyzing data from DESE, we saw strong growth through the mean Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs),” Parvey said. “SGPs complement the MCAS year-by-year test scores. They measure change in achievement over time rather than grade-level achievement results in any one year.”
Andover’s scores remained well above state averages, with 65 percent of students in grades three through eight scoring meeting or exceeding expectations in English, 64 percent in math and 68 percent in science. But those scores are all lower than the scores in the last pre-pandemic exam in 2019, when 71 percent of APS students in grades 3-8 were meeting or exceeding expectations in English, 67 percent in Math and 74 percent in science.
“At Andover High School, the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA, Math, and Science remained well above the state’s percentages, Parvey noted. “We are pleased that this achievement holds true for students with special needs across the district as well.”
Andover Public Schools MCAS Results By Year
| Exam | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 |
| GRADE 03 – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS | 67/44 | 73/51 | 77/56 |
| GRADE 03 – MATHEMATICS | 55/41 | 56/33 | 67/49 |
| GRADE 04 – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS | 63/38 | 71/49 | 70/52 |
| GRADE 04 – MATHEMATICS | 67/42 | 53/33 | 72/50 |
| GRADE 05 – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS | 66/41 | 68/47 | 73/52 |
| GRADE 05 – MATHEMATICS | 62/36 | 60/33 | 72/48 |
| GRADE 05 – SCIENCE AND TECH/ENG | 65/43 | 68/42 | 78/49 |
| GRADE 06 – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS | 63/41 | 67/47 | 68/53 |
| GRADE 06 – MATHEMATICS | 70/42 | 63/33 | 64/52 |
| GRADE 07 – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS | 63/41 | 57/43 | 66/48 |
| GRADE 07 – MATHEMATICS | 67/37 | 55/35 | 64/48 |
| GRADE 08 – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS | 67/42 | 53/41 | 71/52 |
| GRADE 08 – MATHEMATICS | 66/36 | 57/32 | 64/46 |
| GRADE 08 – SCIENCE AND TECH/ENG | 72/42 | 58/41 | 71/46 |
| GRADE 10 – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS | 75/58 | 80/64 | 84/61 |
| GRADE 10 – MATHEMATICS | 70/50 | 74/52 | 81/59 |
| GRADE 10 – SCIENCE AND TECH/ENG | 57/47 | ||
| GRADES 03 – 08 – ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS | 65/41 | 65/46 | 71/52 |
| GRADES 03 – 08 – MATHEMATICS | 64/39 | 57/33 | 67/49 |
| GRADES 05 & 08 – SCIENCE AND TECH/ENG | 68/42 | 63/42 | 74/48 |