Cambridge MCAS Data Reveals Persistent Racial, Socioeconomic Achievement Gap

Cambridge students’ scores on the 2023-24 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam were released Tuesday, revealing persistent disparities and widening achievement gaps along racial and socioeconomic lines.

Across grades three through eight, 55 percent of students met or exceeded expectations on the English Language Arts component, a four percentage point decline from last year. On the math component, 54 percent of students in grade three through eight met or exceeded expectations, a one percentage point increase from the previous year.

But in a district that is 37.5 percent white, 22.5 percent Black, 14.4 percent Asian, and 14.3 percent Hispanic, as well as 35.5 percent low-income, disparate achievement gaps have long persisted along both racial and socioeconomic lines.

In grades three through eight, only 27 percent of Black students met or exceeded expectations on the English Language Arts test, compared to 72 percent of white students. Similarly, only 27 percent of Black students met or exceeded expectations on the math test, compared to 70 percent of their white counterparts.

Compared to last year, when MCAS scores returned to pre-pandemic levels, the achievement gap between Black and white students widened by 2 points for ELA, and shrunk by 2 points for math.

Cambridge’s test averages exceeded those of the state, but the city’s achievement gap along racial lines was also greater. In grades three through eight, white Cambridge students scored 25 percentage points higher on the ELA assessment than the average white student in Massachusetts, while their Black peers scored just 3 points higher than the average Black Massachusetts student.

Math results painted a similar story: white students in grades three through eight in Cambridge scored 21 points higher than the average white student statewide, while the average Black student in Cambridge scored just 5 points higher than the statewide average for Black students.

Some voiced discontent with how close the math and ELA gaps were between Cambridge and the statewide averages.

“Given that we spend twice the state average per student, I would expect that we would be doing a bit better than the state average,” School Committee member Elizabeth C. P. Hudson said.

This year’s results also highlighted a stark achievement gap across socioeconomic status.

Only 27 percent of low-income students in grades three through eight met or exceeded expectations on the English Language Arts test, compared to 74 percent of their non-low-income peers. A similarly stark 46-point difference extended to the math test.

Though gaps between low-income and non-low-income students remain steep, the results do not mark a significant change from previous years, shifting only a few percentage points.

“The persistent underachievement of African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino and Students with disabilities in Cambridge and across Massachusetts is real and persistent,” the Cambridge Families of Color Coalition wrote in an emailed statement to The Crimson.

On the 2023-24 MCAS ELA test, Cambridge students with disabilities in grades three through eight scored 35 percentage points lower than the average student.

The coalition cited “the effects of marginalization, low expectations, conscious and unconscious bias, lack of targeted family support and school exclusions,” as well as students of color or with disabilities being suspended “disproportionately” at some upper schools, as factors contributing to the MCAS performance gap.

“We expect the district to be transparent about these outcomes and reaffirm its dedication with action to closing these gaps and ensuring that every student—regardless of race, ethnicity, learning needs, and/or socio-economic status—has the opportunity to succeed in Cambridge Public Schools,” the coalition wrote.

Hudson called the disparity “horrifying” and called for the district to aggregate the data by the length of students’ careers in the school systems in order to understand the quality of programming and to understand the specific supports students need.

The dissatisfaction with performance gaps is not new.

In earlier interviews with The Crimson about the 2022-23 school year MCAS results, City Councilor Ayesha M. Wilson had called last years’ scores “insulting” and School Committee member Richard Harding, Jr. had called them “a failure.”

Interim Superintendent David Murphy wrote in the Tuesday press release that “embracing and being responsive to this data” is important to ensuring “student excellence, particularly amongst our most vulnerable students and those from historically marginalized communities.”

“CPS continues to be acutely aware of the opportunities and areas for growth,” Cambridge Public Schools spokesperson Sujata Wycoff wrote in a press release. “When the data is disaggregated, it is evident that the district continues to experience challenges in achievement among some student demographic groups.”

In the press release, Wycoff listed a slew of ongoing initiatives aimed at ensuring equitable access to education, including the newly-launched universal preschool program, adoption of new standardized curriculum, and “more focused” professional learning.

Last fall, CPS also completed its years-long implementation of Illustrative Math to align math curricula throughout the system, across grades kindergarten through 12. This fall, CPS launched Amplify CKLA, an ELA curriculum, standardizing instruction across grades one through 12.

Though the MCAS data revealed gaps in achievement across racial lines, on Tuesday, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education also identified two Cambridge schools as demonstrating progress towards “accountability targets,” with an emphasis on schools’ “lowest performing students group.”

The Tobin Montessori School was included on the DESE’s Schools of Recognition list, which only featured 57 schools across Massachusetts. The Martin Luther King, Jr. School was also separately featured for its National Blue Ribbon status, a national award system.

Though performance gaps along lines of race and socioeconomic status persist, Hudson warned that it may take years to see the impact of curriculum changes.

“There’s a lag,” Hudson said. “There’s the year you implemented, and then there’s the time teachers are totally ready to go.”

And with so many curriculum changes in a short period of time, she said, “that lag just gets exaggerated.”

—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Emily T. Schwartz can be reached at emily.schwartz@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @EmilySchwartz3