Examining the results of the annual statewide standardized school exams can be like being a kid again and looking under a big rock in the woods. We all recall that sense of discovery, turning over something that from above appeared a lifeless shape of stone and finding that it sheltered teeming activity of all kinds. Suddenly there was much more to study.
The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scores released this week reveal conflicting trends in Vineyard schools, where individual classes excelled but schools as a whole did not progress enough to meet new state and federal benchmarks.
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School was the only school to meet the state’s adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets in English and math. However, Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss this week called higher cutoff levels one of the reasons the schools were falling short of the targets.
