Lakeville students outpaced last year’s test results in most grades and subject areas while Middleboro’s scores were more of a mixed bag, according to Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) scores released Tuesday, Sept. 19 by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

In the English Language Arts category, Middleboro students improved on last year’s results in about half the grades tested.

To cite examples, Grade 7 English Language Arts improved by 7 percentage points from the previous year. Grade 3, however, dropped 10 percentage points from last year.

The grades three to eight average change from last year’s results to this year showed a 1 percent increase in English Language Arts and science and a 1 percent decrease in math.

For math results, grade four dropped seven percentage points from last year, while grade five results were 12 percentage points higher.

Science results were overall positive, with grades 5, 8 and 10 either improving or remaining the same over last year.

Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Lyons did not immediately respond to a call for comment on these numbers. 

Lakeville’s numbers generally improved on last year’s results. The biggest increase was in grade three English Language Arts, which saw a 10 percentage point increase and grade 5 science, with a 14 percentage point hike. Grade 10 science, in comparison, dropped five percentage points from last year’s test while grade five math dropped by nine. 

Lakeville Superintendent of Schools Alan Strauss did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In nearly all cases in both towns, students continue to lag behind their pre-pandemic scores. 

Across the state, 42 percent of students in grades three to eight met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts, 40 percent in math and 41 percent in science. 

Lakeville outperformed the state in all three categories, with 46 percent of English language arts results earning an exceeds or meets expectations designation. Fifty-one percent of math scores and 53 percent of science results fell into those two categories as well.

Middleboro fell short of the state average in English and Language Arts (35 percent); and math (38 percent). Middleboro students scored above the state average in science, with 44 percent earning those designations.

This year’s MCAS results reveal improvements in English Language Arts and math across most grades compared to scores in 2022, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Though students continue to recover from the pandemic, most scores remain lower than those earned in 2019.

In Middleboro, though, not every grade showed improvement over last year’s numbers. 

In grade three English Language Arts, for example, grade three results decreased by 10 percent from 2022, while grade ten scores reflected a 2 percent drop.

The overall grade three-eight average reflected an over improvement of 1 percent from last year, the same change as the state average.