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Massachusetts has recognized Cambridge Public Schools as the largest district in the state to reach pre-pandemic achievement levels on standardized testing. But for Black students in the district, test scores reflect a different reality.
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System data released last month showed that the gap between Black and white students widened for both English and Math Scores — reaching a difference of almost 50 percent in both categories. Black students are also the furthest from post-pandemic achievement levels in both subjects.
Cambridge School Committee members met on Tuesday night to discuss the district’s MCAS scores in the second of three meetings dedicated to the topic. Members honed in on the widening disparity between Black students and their peers, questioning CPS officials Heather Francis and Jennifer Amigone about patterns in the data.
Committee Member Rachel B. Weinstein said that the post-pandemic achievement gap was the “most troubling” statistic from the 2024-25 MCAS data.
“It’s our Black students who, time and time again, the gap is getting worse,” she said.
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Vice Chair Caroline M.L. Hunter called the trend “very disturbing.” She said that finding meaningful ways to address these achievement gaps will be a challenge for the next budget cycle.
“We need to put all of this on the table, it can’t be blamed on school choice, can’t be blamed on new buildings, old buildings — we have to look within and make the tough decisions, tougher decisions than we made in closing the K-Lo school,” she said.
CPS affiliates have repeatedly pointed to the district’s controlled choice system — where caregivers rank preferences for their children’s school — as a significant factor contributing to the ongoing racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps. While the system was first put in place to help desegregate the district in the 1980s, many caregivers and staff now say it has fallen short of that goal.
While they did not discuss the controlled choice policy, CPS Superintendent David G. Murphy, Francis, and Amigone shared ongoing projects and new proposals to eliminate the post-pandemic gap.
“The alignment of curriculum and the use of greater interventions to support students, I think, are two really important ones,” Murphy said, specifically referencing increased staffing, extending the school day, and expanding universal preschool as strategies.
District officials also identified “promising programs” that demonstrated recent success in improving test scores and closing gaps. This includes the “Excel Tutoring” program, which provides additional support for students who are furthest from grade level, an in depth algebra program for eighth grade students, and a summer program aimed at accelerating learning and reducing skill loss.
Murphy said that it is important to acknowledge that the algebra program — like many of the district’s newer academic interventions — is still in development and requires continued refinement and evaluation.
“There is no strategy that we’ve discussed this evening that is in itself a finished story, because all of these things are works in progress,” he said. “I think there’s areas to grow in all of them, particularly strategies that have only been employed for a relatively limited period of time.”
Murphy added that despite the gaps, he believes that CPS is still serving its students well.
“I do not think that we are in any way engaging in any type of spin or sort of promotion of a false narrative when we say our story in the Cambridge Public Schools is largely positive,” Murphy said.
“When we talk about the extent to which we are meeting and exceeding targets, and how we are outpacing the state and how we’ve recovered from the COVID-related disruptions — all of that are our data points that our educators should take enormous pride in,” he added.
But member Richard Harding Jr. said that state comparisons are not sufficient.
“There was times before when, say the state average is 52 percent. So if we’re at 54 percent, I’m not going to do a cartwheel. It just means that we’re better than the state,” he said.
Murphy said in response that the referencing the state average is a “really important point of comparison,” adding that the district is focused more on the trajectory of scores than on individual data points. He noted that the gap between Cambridge and the state has widened in recent years, demonstrating how Cambridge’s scores have been improving at a faster rate.
Still, Harding said the district must hold itself to higher standards.
“Just use the 54 percent, right — you’re still talking about 46 percent of the kids that are not there,” Harding said. “Ultimately, we’re trying to aspire to 100 percent, period, end, stop.”
“You have a huge amount of kids that are not meeting the standard,” he added. “Growth numbers fluctuate. A lot of things fluctuate. What doesn’t fluctuate is a standard of proficiency that kids reach, and we can say you’ve reached that right? That there’s no fluctuation.”
—Staff writer Ayaan Ahmad can be reached at ayaan.ahmad@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AyaanAhmad2024.
—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at claire.michal@thecrimson.com.
