Elementary Reading Proficiency Down in Massachusetts

Yesterday Massachusetts released results from the Spring 2008 administration of MCAS, the state’s students assessment system that measures whether or not students are achieving proficiency on state standards. The big headline coming out of the report is that 1 in 5 high school sophomores failed to past the high-stakes 10th grade MCAS this year–a decline from past years–due in large part to the addition of a new science assesssment that students will have to pass in order to graduate. But some state officials are also concerned with a decline in reading proficiency rates among 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on this year’s MCAS.

Massachusetts has a higher percentage of 4th graders proficient in reading than any other state, according to the National Assessment of Educational progress. That’s due in large part to the state’s strong standards and education reforms implemented in the 1990s and earlier this decade, as well as a well-educated population and commitment to education investments. But elementary reading achievement has stagnated in recent years, leading some in the state to argue that the state needs a renewed focus on the early grades. Governor Duval Patrick’s Readiness Project, a 10-year vision for education reform, includes proposals to improve early childhood and elementary education, including calls for universal pre-k, full-day kindergarten, and smaller class sizes in grades 1-3.

It’s not clear, though, what the outlook for these proposals is. Earlier this year the state passed An Act Relative to Early Education and Care, which establishes a state Department of Early Education and Care and officially sanctions a universal pre-k program for 3- and 4-year-olds in the state. But that legislation didn’t come with new funding to actually expand public pre-k programs in the state, which currently serve about 10 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds. And Patrick’s efforts to increase pre-k funding by $15 million this year, in order to serve more students, were stymied by budget shortfalls–although the legislature did appropriate an additional $3 million to modestly increase enrollment.But perhaps these most recent test score results will spark renewed action on early childhood and elementary schooling. Early Ed Watch will be paying close attention to the progress of early childhood and elementary education reforms in Massachusetts.