ABINGTON — Oct. 27, 2026 — Abington students scored below the state in five of seven ELA grades and six of seven math grades on the spring 2026 MCAS, according to slides presented to the Abington School Committee on Tuesday. The committee also set its positions for its delegate on statewide MASC resolutions.
The Full Story
MCAS results. Assistant Superintendent Christopher Basta said statewide math performance was largely flat and that ELA declined from 2025.
The slides showed the widest gaps in grade 5. In math, 25% of Abington fifth graders met or exceeded expectations, compared with 39% statewide, a 14-point gap. In fifth grade ELA the district was 8 points below the state, and in fifth grade science 9 points below.
Grade 6 math was the elementary exception, 1 point above the state. At the secondary level, the slides showed grade 7 ELA 3 points above the state and high school ELA 4 points above, while math trailed in grades 7, 8 and high school. High school biology was 12 points above the state, at 53% meeting or exceeding expectations against 41%, and grade 8 civics was 4 points above.
Basta said the ELA results, together with the district’s i-Ready benchmark data, confirm that the district needs to do better for its students and support the work of the ELA curriculum committee. Presenters attributed some results to testing fatigue and lower motivation since MCAS stopped being a graduation requirement, and said the district has lost access to detailed wrong-answer data from the state.
Caroline Ellis said ELA and math are each tested in seven grades and that Abington was below the state average in five ELA grades and six math grades. She asked whether students use Chromebooks too much, whether the district needs a tighter cell phone policy and whether there is enough writing across the curriculum.
I don’t think we need to wait for the new curricula in the different subjects to start looking at changes we can make ahead of time
— Caroline Ellis, School Committee 1:32:45
