ANDOVER, MA — Andover Public Schools will conduct a literacy audit for grades K-8 this fall after MCAS exam scores released this week showed “stagnant” performance on the English and Language Arts exam.
“While recognizing the increases in student achievement, we continue to identify areas for improvement across the district,” Superintendent Magda Parvey said in a note to parents. “Overall, a historical analysis of ELA data for grades 3-8 shows stagnant achievement levels for all students.”
At most of Andover’s elementary schools, the biggest drops in scores between 2023 and 2024 were among fourth and fifth graders taking the English exam, according to a review of the data, which were released on Tuesday.
At Sanborn, for example, the number of fourth graders meeting or exceeding expectations dropped from 77 percent in 2023 to 61 percent this year. At West Elementary, just 44 percent of fourth graders met or exceeded expectations in the English exam.
Statewide, education officials said the results show continued struggles for school districts after the coronavirus pandemic shutdown schools in 2020 and forced students into remote learning. Andover’s struggles in English mirror statewide trends.
Despite not falling as far behind as less affluent Massachusetts school districts, Andover’s scores across all grade levels continued to lag behind 2019, the last year the test was given before the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools. In grades 3-8, for example, 64 percent of students exceeded or met expectations on the English exam in 2024, down from 71 percent in 2019. The tests were not administered in 2020, when students attended school remotely.
The tables below show the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations in the English and Language Arts MCAS exam at each of Andover’s elementary schools:
Bancroft
| Grade | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 3 | 67% | 63% | 64% | 57% |
| 4 | 67% | 64% | 64% | 53% |
| 5 | 66% | 67% | 65% | 66% |
High Plain
| Grade | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 3 | 74% | 72% | 76% | 60% |
| 4 | 72% | 61% | 56% | 61% |
| 5 | 89% | 73% | 72% | 74% |
Sanborn
| Grade | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 3 | 73% | 74% | 68% | 85% |
| 4 | 73% | 70% | 77% | 61% |
| 5 | 56% | 78% | 82% | 60% |
South
| Grade | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 3 | 89% | 80% | 79% | 73% |
| 4 | 81% | 67% | 69% | 70% |
| 5 | 66% | 64% | 74% | 75% |
West
| Grade | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 3 | 67% | 52% | 53% | 52% |
| 4 | 64% | 62% | 55% | 44% |
| 5 | 64% | 56% | 70% | 59% |