Massachusetts education officials say they will start tracking the progress of individual students to gauge whether they are making progress.
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester said at a meeting last week that the new analysis will make it harder for local officials to dismiss poor test scores.
The state now judges success by comparing state test scores with scores from the same grade the year before. Some say variations in results can simply reflect a class of particularly gifted or challenged students. The new measurement could shed light on who is falling short—teachers or pupils—and lead to changes in how students are taught.
