The combined math MCAS scores for this subset are:
| 2009 Math MCAS Scores Grades 3 – 8 | ||
| Score Categories | Achievement Culture Districts Selected | State – Wide |
| Advanced | 44% | 20% |
| Proficient | 36% | 33% |
| Needs Improvement | 15% | 30% |
| Failing | 5% | 17% |
If we look at these districts as a subset of the state, we find that an old rule of thumb applies. In other words 80% of the students score proficient or better and 20% do not. The percentage of advanced students in these selected districts is more than double the state-wide total. The student body as well as the teaching staff therefore must operate within a culture where mastery of the subject material is the norm with over 40% of students achieving an advanced score. Is it possible that the large percentage of advanced students creates peer pressure on those below? Is it possible that this same large proficient body of students, most likely engaged in the academic process, require teachers that are engaged and motivated?
In total the 23,851 students from these 16 districts represent 5.4% of the Massachusetts 3rd through 8th grade math MCAS test takers. Only two of the 16 districts had lower income student populations greater than 7%, namely Eastham (22%) and Excel Academy Charter (67%). 9 of the 16 districts had Asian populations that were greater than 10% with some as high as 20%. African American students in the districts were in the single digits with most below 6%, with the exception of Excel Academy Charter which had the highest African American student population of 8%. Hispanic student populations were 6% or less for most of these districts also with the exception of Excel Academy Charter (69%).
Do you really think you can make a meaningful analysis of educational performance without examining educational method? So far you just seem to be confirming the Coleman Report: demographics are everything. Of course people/families/schools/neighborhoods with a history of achievement have an ‘achievement culture.’ Of course people/families/schools/neighborhoods with a history of failure have a ‘failure culture.’ You can’t change the culture with platitudes, you have to create a history of achievement. In other words, this is bass ackwards.