By Carol Britton Meyer

School administrators recently presented an overview of Hull students’ scores on this past spring’s Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exams to the school committee, naming two critical areas of focus – student attendance and low participation in the exams as compared to statewide numbers.

“Overall, we did very well,” Superintendent of Schools Judith Kuehn told The Hull Times in a follow-up telephone interview.

While some results were praiseworthy, there are areas of concern.

“We have such high expectations,” she said.

Director of Curriculum and Assessment Christine Cappadona explained the latest MCAS test results, with Hull High School Principal Michael Knybel, Memorial School Principal Tony Hrivnak, and Jacobs Elementary School Principal Kyle Shaw providing details for their individual schools.

* Math achievement was at or above the statewide results in grades 3 to 7 and grade 10.

“Overall, we saw typical student growth, but our expectation is high growth,” Cappadona said. Student growth percentiles complement the MCAS year-by-year test scores, measuring change in achievement over time rather than grade-level achievement results in any one year, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

“We want to ensure that our students are really learning the content [of the subjects they are studying] as well as achieving high scores,” Cappadona told The Hull Times. “We want to see our students grow and exceed their expectations,” including students who are already good test-takers.

* The Hull Public Schools ranked number one in both 10th-grade English language arts and mathematics when compared with similar districts and schools with regard to size, demographics, and other considerations. “This provides a level playing field, comparing apples with apples, so to speak,” Kuehn said. “In this comparison, we are always at the top, and we’re proud of that.”

This year Cappadona and Kuehn compared Hull’s MCAS results with those of students in the neighboring communities of Hingham, Cohasset, and Norwell, and Hull students fared “pretty well,” Kuehn said.

* HHS students’ average was above the state in ELA, math, and science,” Cappadona reported, “and they are in the top 20% in ELA and math.”

* Memorial Middle School results were mixed. “However, we saw significant growth in the sixth-grade math results,” Cappadona said. “They were 19% above the state average in meeting and exceeding expectations.”

* Jacobs School had strong reading and language scores, while the writing scores declined, consistent with the statewide results. Math and science scores were above the state average.

As was the case nationwide, student learning in Hull was impacted by the COVID19 pandemic.

Two critical areas of focus in the Hull Public Schools accountability results were attendance and the MCAS participation rate.

According to Cappadona, 28.9% of HPS students missed 18 days (10 percent) of school last year, and 4.9% of the students missed 36 days, or 20 percent. The average number of days missed was 13.

This is not surprising since students who exhibited potential COVID19 symptoms were encouraged to stay home from school, which resulted in “a loss of critical instruction time,” along with COVID-restricted in-person learning, according to Kuehn.

The Class of 2026 as middle-schoolers was particularly hard hit, entering sixth grade followed by a shutdown of in-person learning halfway through, and then in seventh and eighth grade, implementation of COVID-related restrictions that cut back on the usual in-person learning opportunities and face-to-face instruction, Kuehn explained.

Steps are being taken to help students at all levels make up for the lost learning, “but this is challenging and takes time,” she said.

HPS used money from the COVID-related Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund (ESSER) in part to pay for summer scholarships for some children to participate in the Hull Parks & Recreation Program and benefit from socialization, and to start an intramural track program for students in grades 6 and 7, and an eSports program for students who enjoy participating in electronic sports, a form of competition using video games.

In addition to attendance issues, the HPS MCAS participation rate was low compared to the statewide numbers, according to Cappadona.

“Our rate is low compared to the state, meaning we did not have 100% of our students in each grade take the test,” Kuehn explained. “We are a small district, which means that a small number of students not taking the test has a significant impact. There are a small group of elementary and middle school parents who choose to opt-out [their children].”

Visit www.hulltimes.com for a link that shows how each of the Hull Public Schools’ participation rates compares to other schools within the Commonwealth.

Each school district is expected to maintain a participation rate of 95% or higher for each subject-area test. Any school or district with a participation rate below 95% is considered to have low assessment participation.

“Hull participation rates differ at each grade level,” Kuehn noted. “Overall, this is an area of improvement for the district.”

Cappadona called the overall MCAS process as it relates to Hull Public Schools a collaborative effort.

“There are tests everywhere [at all different levels of students’ time in school and beyond], and we want them to learn the strategies for test-taking,” Cappadona said.

While keeping up with the overall state MCAS results is not the only consideration, helping students achieve higher scores is considered to be a priority.

A number of action steps are in place to help students who need assistance at different levels for various reasons.

Districtwide strategies for improvement include comprehensive curriculum reviews, curriculum mapping, deeper learning, more enrichment time, a focus on writing skills, benchmark and formative assessments, data meetings, and a consistent K-12 student-intervention process.

 Curriculum maps encourage teachers to discuss best practices and share resources, improving the overall level of teaching across a school district. Parents benefit from structured curriculum maps because they make them aware of learning targets for their children. Students are given coherent curriculum throughout the class, with a constant flow of knowledge from term to term and year to year.

Cappadona and Kuehn praised the school system’s leadership team and teachers for their hard work during the pandemic and now.

“They remain dedicated, and we want to acknowledge them so that they know they are valued and appreciated,” Kuehn said.