Results of last spring's MCAS tests reveal that Wareham students' scores continue to fall behind state averages, and the district is struggling to improve at a rate deemed acceptable by the state.

While Wareham High School improved enough to be recognized as the highest performing school in the district, the John W. Decas Elementary School slipped this year.

The results were released by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on Friday. Here's a recap. Want the details? Click here for full results (view the "Assessment" and "Accountability" tabs.)

Progress and performance:

Last year, the state announced a new measurement of district's and schools' progress, called the "Progress and Performance Index." It takes into consideration the rate of student improvement, graduation and dropout rates, among other factors, when determining whether a district or school is improving at an acceptable rate to meet the state's ultimate goal: reducing the "proficiency gap" of school districts' scores as compared to state averages by half by 2017.

Schools and districts are assigned a "level" based on the Progress and Performance Index.

Level 1 is given to the highest-performing schools and districts; Level 2 is given to schools that are improving, but not meeting goals to narrow the gap; Level 3 schools are among the lowest performing 20% of schools; Level 4 indicates a school is among the lowest-achieving and least-improving; Level 5 is issued if a school has been given a "redesign" plan and failed to improve.

The good news: Wareham High is once again considered a Level 1 school. It dropped to Level 2 last year after missing the Level 1 mark by just one point.

Decas Elementary dropped from Level 2 to Level 3 this year.

Wareham Middle School is still considered a Level 3 school, while Minot Forest Elementary remains at Level 2.

Wareham is currently a Level 3 district — and has been for years because it had at least one school deemed Level 3.

The scores:

Tests are administered to students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10. The scores that students earn place them in prescribed performance levels — advanced, proficient, needs improvement, or warning/failing.

Elementary schools

The percentage of third-grade students scoring proficient or higher in reading was 48%, compared to the state average of 57%. In math, 58% of Wareham students scored proficient or higher, compared with 66% of students statewide.

In fourth-grade, 45% of Wareham students scored proficient or higher in English, compared to 53% of the state. In math, 45% of Wareham fourth-graders scored proficient or higher, while 52% of students statewide scored proficient or higher.

In fifth-grade, the state's science and technology/engineering test is introduced. Wareham students especially struggled in this subject, with 31% of students scoring proficient or higher, compared to 51% of students statewide. In English, 52% of Wareham students scored proficient or higher compared to 66% of the state. In math, 51% of Wareham fifth-graders scored proficient or higher, compared to 61% of students statewide.

Middle school

The percentage of sixth-grade students in Wareham scoring proficient or higher in English was 53%, compared to 67% of students statewide. In math, 46% of Wareham students scored proficient or higher, compared to 61% of the state.

In grade seven, 61% of Wareham students scored proficient or higher in English, compared to 72% of students statewide. In math, 46% of Wareham students scored proficient or higher, compared to 52% of the state.

Of Wareham's eighth-grade students, 68% performed proficient or higher in English, compared to 78% statewide. In math, 31% performed proficient or higher, verses 55% of the state. In science, Wareham came closer to the state percentage, with 32% scoring proficient or higher compared to 39% statewide.

High school

The last of the MCAS exams are taken in grade ten.

A total of 87% of students in Wareham scored proficient or higher on the English exam, compared to 91% of students statewide. In math, 70% of Wareham students scored proficient or higher, compared to 80% of the state. In science, 54% of students in Wareham scored proficient or higher, compared to 71% of students statewide.

What's next?

Superintendent Kimberly Shaver-Hood, who took the helm last summer following Dr. Barry Rabinovitch's retirement, says she is rallying her staff and coming up with a plan of action.

"I'm meeting with staff in each building. We're looking at the results and we're going to work collaboratively to build the plan, and we will see results next year. We will see positive results," Shaver-Hood said. "It's going to be a plan that everybody will be working [on] together."

Shaver-Hood got some positive news out of the scores, however. Her former district, Blackstone-Millville Regional, remains a Level 2 district, but its high school and an elementary school improved from Level 2 to Level 1.

"That's great," Shaver-Hood said. "Some of the things really worked that we put into place."

And now, the superintendent is determining what things might work in Wareham.

"Right now, I'm sitting here with scores all around, really looking at the history and looking at the trend," Shaver-Hood said.

One year's scores doesn't tell administrators very much, the superintendent noted. By looking at previous year's scores, they can see how students have habitually performed.

"That helps us focus in," Shaver-Hood says. "Where are they falling down and where do we need to really focus?"

The superintendent said she has already met with the Decas Elementary staff.

"It's not so much, 'what didn't we do?' but 'what did we do right and how do we share with one another, in a collegial manner, our strengths?" Shaver-Hood explained.

"We certainly would have loved to had the scores higher," she continued, but added: "We're looking at this as a very positive direction for us to head in."

Janice Rotella, director of curriculum and instruction for the district, was similarly positive.

Rotella noted that the spring test was the first that was completely based on new state educational standards.

"One of the biggest things that has impacted teachers, students, and obviously test results is the change in the standards. … I think what parents and families need to know is that the learning demands on their students are higher," said Rotella. "I think [the standards] are aligned with what's required in our global world, but it is a change in teaching and a change in learning."

Fortunately, Rotella said, voters at Town Meeting in June approved the district's request for more than $300,000 in books and materials, which fully equipped kindergarten through grade three classrooms with materials that support the new educational standards. The district was also able to purchase new math textbooks for the high school.

"Thanks to our Town Meeting, we have the tools for our youngest students and we have all the tools we need for our high school students" for the new curriculum, Rotella said, adding that the money also partially equipped grades four and five with materials. More texts are needed, but the district can get by for this year on what it has, she explained.

"The scores are disappointing, but we know where we have to go," Rotella continued. "We're ready to fly ahead, and right now, our students have the resources in hand."