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2<br />
School Committee weighing<br />
MCAS and COVID test results<br />
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 OCTOBER 7, 2021<br />
SCHOOL COMMITTEE<br />
From page 1<br />
was primarily compared to that<br />
of 2019.<br />
In 2019, 39 percent of fifthgrade<br />
students were meeting<br />
expectations for the English/<br />
Language Arts (ELA) MCAS,<br />
compared to 36 percent in 2021,<br />
which Chase said is not a huge<br />
difference.<br />
“A lot of this shows credit<br />
for our teachers,” Chase said.<br />
“Teachers really do matter,<br />
and I think this shows how important<br />
they are. When our kids<br />
are in front of our teachers, we<br />
get them where they need to<br />
be.”<br />
In the results for grade-eight<br />
ELA, 25 percent of students<br />
were meeting expectations in<br />
2021, compared to 42 percent<br />
in 2019.<br />
In regards to next steps going<br />
forward, Chase said they will<br />
dig into what the questions look<br />
like, where the students did<br />
well, what types of questions<br />
students missed the mark on,<br />
and where to go from there.<br />
They will also look into subgroups<br />
of students, which Chase<br />
said will include researching if<br />
certain groups of students did<br />
better than others and how to<br />
mitigate those gaps.<br />
For grade 10 ELA, 46 percent<br />
of students were meeting expectations<br />
in 2021, compared to<br />
47 percent in 2019.<br />
In terms of exceeding expectations<br />
in ELA, 12 percent of<br />
10th-grade students saw qualifying<br />
scores in 2021, compared<br />
to 5 percent in 2019.<br />
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“That goes along with… our<br />
kids really holding up the progress<br />
that they had before the<br />
pandemic,” Chase said.<br />
With these results, Chase said<br />
they will dig into the root of why<br />
older students can maintain an<br />
upward trend in MCAS scores;<br />
she also mentioned the fact that<br />
the older students may be able<br />
to work better with technology.<br />
For the math MCAS results,<br />
Chase said this is where the<br />
work they are currently doing<br />
with teachers really starts to<br />
matter, as there are significant<br />
drops in scores across the board.<br />
Grade three math scores saw<br />
22 percent meeting expectations<br />
in 2021, compared to 32<br />
percent in 2019.<br />
The 2021 MCAS math scores<br />
also saw 33 percent of third<br />
graders not meeting expectations,<br />
compared to 14 percent<br />
in 2019.<br />
Chase said this drop may have<br />
to do with the younger students<br />
having more difficulty using<br />
computers and technology and<br />
doing things independently.<br />
In fifth-grade math results,<br />
26 percent of students were<br />
meeting expectations in 2021,<br />
compared to 36 percent in 2019,<br />
while eighth-grade math scores<br />
in 2021 saw 25 percent of students<br />
meeting expectations,<br />
compared to 36 percent in 2019.<br />
“It’s kids at all levels and all<br />
grades that need to have this addressed,”<br />
Chase said. “The data<br />
shows us that there is a lot to be<br />
done but there’s also a lot to be<br />
celebrated.”<br />
Some action steps are already<br />
in place to accelerate learning<br />
and mitigate gaps, including<br />
schoolwide improvement plans<br />
formed from the data, common<br />
assessments, and professional<br />
development to address the<br />
needs of all students.<br />
Moving forward in the pandemic,<br />
Peabody schools have<br />
implemented testing programs<br />
that are run through CIC health.<br />
Vadala said this program,<br />
which is for those who are unvaccinated<br />
or in close contact<br />
with someone who tested positive,<br />
began two weeks ago and<br />
saw more than 150 students participate<br />
in the first week.<br />
“This is really designed<br />
to keep students and staff in<br />
school that would typically be<br />
required to be quarantined at<br />
home,” Vadala said.<br />
This “test and stay” program<br />
is also available over<br />
the weekend, so students can<br />
participate in extracurricular<br />
activities.<br />
“I can’t say enough about our<br />
health department here and our<br />
school nurses and our health director.<br />
They’ve done a great job<br />
organizing this,” Vadala said.<br />
Peabody schools also began<br />
diagnostic testing last week,<br />
where students with minimal<br />
symptoms can get tested in<br />
the nurse’s office and stay in<br />
school. If a student has multiple<br />
or significant symptoms,<br />
then they are not able to stay in<br />
school.<br />
“Both of these programs,<br />
we’re very excited about (being<br />
able to) keep kids in school and<br />
get them access to their extracurricular<br />
and academic programs,”<br />
Vadala said.<br />
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FILE PHOTO<br />
Audrey Gordon is the co-founder of the Progeria Research<br />
Foundation, a Peabody-based organization funding research<br />
into the extremely rare and incurable disease that causes accelerated<br />
aging in kids and young adults.<br />
Marathoners running<br />
to raise money<br />
for city foundation<br />
MARATHON<br />
From page 1<br />
approval of Zokinvy (lonafarnib),<br />
the first-ever treatment for progeria<br />
— opened the door for children<br />
and young adults to get the drug<br />
by prescription instead of by clinical<br />
trials. The drug adds two and a<br />
half years to the life expectancy for<br />
someone who has been diagnosed.<br />
Without treatment, the average life<br />
expectancy is only 14.5 years.<br />
“We’ve learned that now, instead<br />
of talking about children<br />
with progeria, we are now talking<br />
about young adults as they are<br />
living longer,” Gordon said.<br />
This year will be Michienzie’s<br />
first time running the marathon<br />
live through the streets of Boston<br />
and the seven other communities<br />
that make up the official race<br />
course, though the runner did participate<br />
virtually in 2020.<br />
“Watching so many people from<br />
myriad walks of life and various<br />
levels of health cross the finish line<br />
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each year, and feeling the energy,<br />
passion and pride of the people of<br />
the city of Boston cheering on the<br />
runners has provided additional<br />
motivation,” Michienzie said.<br />
“Out of tragedy, triumph. Out of<br />
hatred, love. Out of fear, courage.<br />
Love is the key ingredient, and triumph<br />
through the clear mission of<br />
PRF.”<br />
Like Dempsey, this is<br />
Michienzie’s first time running the<br />
marathon in person. His training<br />
has included the challenging<br />
Spartan Beast obstacle course.<br />
“I’m running in memory of Sam<br />
Berns and for every child who is<br />
coping with progeria to help find a<br />
cure,” Michienzie said. “I’m also<br />
doing it because I’m inspired by<br />
the strength, compassion and hard<br />
work (that) Drs. Leslie Gordon<br />
and Scott Berns exhibit each and<br />
every day on behalf of these wonderful<br />
kids.”<br />
Both runners are hoping to raise<br />
$10,000 each and are more than<br />
halfway to their goals.<br />
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