MCAS results from last spring are in and school administrators say that though scores showed some improvement in math and English at the elementary level, there were a few unpleasant surprises in scores at the middle and high schools.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires that all public school students be proficient in English and math by 2014, and the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education measures students' progress toward proficiency in those areas through MCAS testing.

Wareham Middle School failed to make what state calls "adequate yearly progress" toward proficiency in both English and math. That is no change over last year in the subject of English and was a regression in math. The school had made adequate progress in math for the past three years.

"We are disappointed in the middle school scores that are not showing the achievement results we want," said Jan Rotella, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Wareham Public Schools.

But results at the high school particularly concerned administrators.

Though Wareham High School continued to make adequate progress in English, scores dropped in math, causing the state to determine that adequate progress was not being made in that area.

After completing preliminary reviews and evaluations of MCAS data last spring, administrators knew changes would need to be made in the middle school teaching curriculum.

"The middle school [scores] we were prepared for," Rotella said. "I anticipate better results in the future."

A new math program was implemented in the middle school this year and English content was aligned with new national standards.

"We don't wait for MCAS [scores] to analyze how students are doing," Rotella noted. "We do that all year."

Rotella said administrators were "extremely disappointed" in the high school results.

Though students continued to make adequate yearly progress in English, progress was not achieved for the first time in six years in math.

"We need to do analyses of what we're teaching and what we need to be teaching," identify the strengths and weaknesses of students and compare that to the current course content, Rotella said.

Students are tested in grades three through eight and in grade 10 in math and English language arts. (Students are also tested in science and technology in grades five, eight, and 10.)

As for the elementary schools, Minot Forest continued to make adequate progress in English and improved in math last spring. The school made adequate progress in math in 2009 but not in 2010.

John W. Decas Elementary failed to make adequate progress for the second year in a row in English but improved in math, achieving adequate yearly progress where it had not last year.

To improve progress at the elementary schools, new teaching methods are being implemented and professional development in various areas is being offered to teachers.

"Students have problems with content reading" at the elementary level, Rotella said, stressing that parents should encourage children to read everyday things such as cereal boxes and street signs. "We need community support."

For more information on MCAS tests and results, visit the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website at http://www.doe.mass.edu and search for Wareham or click here.