Science scores so-so; 35% proficient in MCAS tests.

Byline: Jacqueline Reis

Starting with this year's sophomores, high school students in Massachusetts will have to pass one subject-specific science MCAS test to graduate in addition to the math and English MCAS exams.

Yesterday, the state Department of Education announced its first round of science results.

This year's juniors do not have to pass a science MCAS to graduate, but they were all required to take a test in either biology, chemistry, introductory physics or technology-engineering last year. Sixty-nine percent of them passed, but only 35 percent scored at the proficient level or higher. Those scores might rise with this year's sophomores as the test becomes a graduation requirement, Acting Education Commissioner Jeffrey Nellhaus said in a press release.

Many of this year's sophomores chose to take the test last year as freshmen, and 81 percent of them passed. Students had to take the test in the subject they were studying at the time, but those who did not pass can take that same test again this spring or take the test that corresponds to their current course work.

Most students took the biology test, but the chemistry test seems to have been particularly difficult. Most ninth graders failed it, and so did 38 percent of 10th graders. It was also responsible for some of the lowest pass rates in Central Massachusetts.

Statewide, for instance, there were 39 schools where more than 95 percent of students scored below proficient. In Central Massachusetts, the only school to do so was Leominster's Center for Technical Education, where only 4 percent of students scored proficient or above in chemistry.

Also statewide, there were 60 schools where the majority of students failed at least one of the exams. That exam was chemistry at several local schools: Gardner High School (58 percent failed it), Leominster's Center for Technical Education (72 percent), Leominster Senior High School (72 pecent failed); Worcester's Burncoat Senior High (75 percent); Worcester's Doherty Memorial (51 percent); Worcester's North High (67 percent); Worcester's South High Community School (64 percent); Worcester's University Park Campus School (59 percent); and Worcester Technical High School (56 percent).

Other schools and subjects with high failing rates were Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School in Palmer, where 55 percent failed biology; Worcester's North High School, where 52 percent failed biology; Worcester's South High Community School in Worcester, where 51 percent failed biology; and Worcester Technical High School, where 56 percent failed technology/engineering.

In a letter to the School Committee, Worcester Superintendent James A. Caradonio said the results are "first-time, base-line data." The district's analysis of the results shows students struggled with the open-response questions on all of the tests, so those will be a priority this year, he said. A closer look at the scores also shows that many of Worcester's students who were in the failing category were just a few points away from passing.

Board of Education Chairman Paul Reville, a Worcester resident, said in a press release about the statewide scores that "The high school science results, while encouraging, suggest that we have more work to do."

More than a quarter of Massachusetts high school students flunked the test, with dozens of urban high schools across the state registering a failure rate of 50 percent or higher. The disappointing scores, state officials said yesterday, will force school systems to pay closer attention to how they teach science.

"This helps us create a sense of urgency around the parts of our education system that need to be strengthened," said Chris Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and a member of the state Board of Education. "Given our economy, science will be a critical component of determining these kids' futures."

Educators who oppose including a science requirement in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System said that adding science to the growing list of exams students must pass to graduate will force teachers to teach to the test, will limit time for experiments, and could zap students' enthusiasm for the subject.

Statewide failure rates on the science MCAS tests ranged from 22 percent in physics to 39 percent in chemistry. Students can score warning/failing, needs improvement, proficient, or advanced on the four exams; they must score "needs improvement" or above on one of the four tests to pass. Currently, students can only take one of the subject tests a year, corresponding to the course they have just completed.

While the majority of the 101,809 ninth- and 10th-graders who took one of the exams passed, more than half failed or received the minimum passing grade. In 39 high schools, mostly in urban districts, that rate rose to more than 95 percent.

"Today's results for the science MCAS reaffirm once again that we still have work to do to close the achievement gap and to support every student in every school in every community to reach his or her potential," Gov. Deval L. Patrick said in a written statement yesterday.

Currently, Massachusetts students are only required to pass the math and English MCAS to graduate; students in the class of 2010, now sophomores, will have to score "proficient" to pass the math and English tests, instead of the previous passing standard of "needs improvement." Under federal law, all students must be proficient in the two subjects by 2014 or their schools could face sanctions.

Last spring, 71 percent of 10th-graders scored "proficient" or higher in English and 69 percent in math.

Material from The Boston Globe was used in this report