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Massachusetts education test scores back to top in the nation, but still behind pre-pandemic

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Massachusetts education test scores back to top in the nation, but still behind pre-pandemic


Massachusetts’s students are back to being the top in the U.S. for all categories in a test known as the “Nation’s Report Card” — but still remain well behind the state’s pre-pandemic scores.

“Massachusetts continues to prioritize education, and so while today’s results are not quite where we want them to be — we want to be number one for all students — there is recognition of the work to get there,” Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said Wednesday. … “Our fourth grade math scores are back to pre-pandemic levels. While nationally gaps increased, they did not here. They still exist, and we have work to do, but they are not getting worse.”

The National Assessment of Education Progress tests, which have been administered to a sample of fourth and eighth graders in math and reading nationwide every two years since the 1990s, showed Massachusetts students to be the highest scorers in all four categories. Students both in the state and across the country remained unable to quite catch up to their pre-pandemic peers.

In 2022, Massachusetts students’ scores hit their lowest point since 2003, and the state dropped into second place for 4th-grade math and 8th-grade reading. Across the country in 2022, scores hit record lows and not a single state saw significant improvement.

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In 2024, Massachusetts scores remained relatively stagnant for eighth-grade math and both grades in reading. Only fourth-grade math saw relative improvement — echoing slight improvement in these scores across the country.

Nationally, 2024 scores remained relatively stable from 2022 in eighth-grade math and declined for both grades in reading.

Boston Public Schools was also one of several larger school districts with progress in fourth-grade math scores.

Tutwiler said so far “progress is slow,” but the administration is “building a foundation to go fast” with investments in initiatives like early literacy learning.

Healey highlighted some investments Wednesday, including a $25 million investment in “high dosage tutoring” in the governor’s proposed budget for the next year.

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“We want to reach 10,000 students immediately through this initiative to address pandemic related learning loss and accelerate learning growth for students in kindergarten through grade three by prioritizing students in grade one,” Tutwiler said of the tutoring investment.

Across the nation and Massachusetts, gaps also widened between higher-performing and lower-performing students, with the lowest performing students nationwide now about 100 points behind the highest.

“This growing achievement gap between high- and low-performing students is troubling,” said Martin West, Vice Chair of the NAEP Governing Board and a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. “We made progress in closing this gap until around 2010, but it’s been steadily widening since.”

Massachusetts officials said they are “well aware” of gaps and leaning into “investments and strategies to address them.

“The rollback is not going to be short,” said Tutwiler. “We’re talking about adaptive challenges. We’re talking about working with students directly who experience major disruptions in their learning. This is not a quick fix. It’s going to take time, but as the results are clearly indicating, we’re getting the work done.”

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‘No way to leave’: Mass. families stuck in Middle East amid war in Iran

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‘No way to leave’: Mass. families stuck in Middle East amid war in Iran


Massachusetts families are stuck in the Middle East amid the war in Iran, and Democratic Sen. Ed Markey says the State Department needs to do more to get them home.

The Trump administration is telling Americans to leave the region, and families would love to, but they haven’t been able to get out.

Stacey Schuhwerk of Hingham has been sheltering in place in a Doha hotel since Saturday.

“We hear the missiles outside,” she said. “We can see them.”

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The Hingham mother and her son are among nearly 1,600 Americans trapped in the Middle East with no way to get home.

“Airspace is shut down. There’s no planes,” said Schuhwerk. “There’s no way to leave.”

Flights between Boston and the Middle East are canceled or delayed as travelers express anxiety over the conflict.

At first, U.S. officials told people to shelter in place and register with the State Department — something Schuhwerk did days ago.

“There’s no help there. The last time we called was 20 minutes ago, and they continue to say that ‘We don’t know anything about any plans for government help to get people out,’” she said.

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Embassies and consulates across the region — including the U.S. Embassy in Israel — have now suspended services, saying they simply can’t get Americans out.

“They did not have a plan to conduct this war, and they clearly did not have a plan as to how to evacuate innocent families,” Markey said.

The senator says his office is hearing from Massachusetts families, and he’s pressuring the Trump administration to come up with an evacuation plan fast.

“We are going to apply that pressure on the State Department until every American who wants to leave that region is out,” he said.

Back in Doha, Schuhwerk keeps watching the war outside her window.

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“The talk here is ‘How much defensive ammunition’s left?’ Good question, you know, because the missiles aren’t stopping,” she said. “So how long are we going to be safe here?”

With no clear end to this conflict, she’s worried she could be stuck there for weeks.



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Snow, ice, rain to impact roads in Massachusetts – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Snow, ice, rain to impact roads in Massachusetts – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


Happy Tuesday! While today started off dry, we’re already looking at snow out there across the area. While this event will primarily stay as rain on the Cape and islands, it will be an icy mix of snow, ice and rain for the rest of us.

The rain/snow line will continue to advance from the south to the north as the evening progresses. Before the changeover, there will be a quick coating to 2 inches for most of our area.

The threshold between the snow and rain will feature sleet and freezing rain, leading to that icing.

For the rest of the night, there will primarily be rain with continued pockets of freezing rain, leading to increasing spotty ice accretion. Be extremely careful on roads, especially since switching between rain and freezing rain can wash off any road salt.

The rain and freezing rain will exit by 6 a.m. Wednesday, but temperatures will still be close to freezing during the morning commute, so watch out for some spotty black ice.

The rest of Wednesday will be really nice! Highs will warm up to the mid 50s with the help of ample sun.

Thursday we start off in the mid 20s and top off in the mid 40s. We’ll be partly sunny with another chance for some wintry weather Thursday night. This primarily looks like some rain and freezing rain, rather than the triple threat with snow too. We’ll keep an eye on that for you.

That will continue into Friday morning. The rest of Friday: cloudy with a chance for a spot shower and highs cooler again in the upper 30s. Saturday will be dry, breezy and cloudy but gorgeous near 50 degrees! There’s a chance for some rain showers Saturday night. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you to go bed!

Sunday we start the day mild in the 40s and make it all the way into the upper 50s with more sun. Monday and Tuesday both look bright and in the 60s! Stay tuned.

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Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks

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Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks




Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks – CBS Boston

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Poya Sohrabi hasn’t heard from his family since they took shelter from attacks in Tehran. WBZ-TV’s Mike Sullivan reports.

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