Report Cards:

Report Cards are available on the district web site: www.belmont.k12.ma.us/mcas/

Part I: Student Enrollment and Teacher Qualifications

The first section of the report card provides information about the students and teachers in our district and each school as compared to the district and the state. If your child attends a school that receives federal Title I funds, you also have the right to request the following information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teachers:

• Whether your child’s teacher is licensed in the grade levels and subject areas they teach
• Whether your child’s teacher is teaching under an emergency license or waiver
• The college degree and major of your child’s teacher
• Whether your child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications

In Belmont, the Butler and Wellington Elementary Schools receive federal Title I funds.

Part II: Student Achievement

The second section of the report card shows how Massachusetts students are performing on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test that allows you to compare the performance of Massachusetts students to students across the nation or in other states. You can also see how our district performed on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests as compared to the state.

Part III: Accountability

The third section of the report card contains three important pieces of information:

• Accountability and Assistance Levels: Schools and districts are placed into one of five accountability and assistance levels (1-5), with the highest performing in Level 1 and lowest performing in Level 5. Our district has been placed into Level 2 because we have one school that is in Level 2. The Chenery Middle School is in Level 2 because the subgroups are not meeting the required gap-narrowing targets. Our elementary schools and Belmont High School are in Level 1.
• School Percentiles: A school percentile between 1 and 99 is reported for most schools. This number shows the overall performance of each school relative to other schools that serve the same or similar grades. Our six schools percentiles are as follows:

 

School	School Percentile
Burbank Elementary School	97
Butler Elementary School	94
Wellington Elementary School	91
Winn Brook Elementary School	95
Chenery Middle School	97
Belmont High School	98

Progress and Performance Index (PPI): The PPI is a number that indicates our school’s progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps, or, in other words, helping all students reach proficiency and be prepared for success after high school. Massachusetts has set a goal of reducing proficiency gaps by half between the years 2011 and 2017. For a group of students to be considered to be making sufficient progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps, its cumulative PPI must be 75 or higher.

One of the provisions of the new accountability system is a requirement that a percentage of Title I funding be used to target the areas of greatest need. We will use these funds to develop an afterschool program to provide additional support to the lowest achieving students at the middle school. In addition, we will continue many of the middle school initiatives begun in the last two years that provide focused support to students during the school day. These include ensuring that all curricula are aligned to state standards, analyzing all subgroup and individual student data to determine appropriate interventions, and adjusting instruction to better meet the needs of all students.

We encourage you to become involved in helping us improve our schools and district. Some of the ways you can become involved are:

• Encouraging your child’s learning at home
• Attending parent-teacher meetings and other special meetings
• Serving as a volunteer in our school or district
• Encouraging other parents to become involved

School report cards are available in all school offices, the Superintendent's office, the Town Clerk's office, and the Belmont Public Library. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Janice Darias, Assistant Superintendent, at (617) 993-5410.