Massachusetts student achievement has continued to decline on state tests, with Grade 10 English scores posting a particularly steep slide, according to MCAS results released Monday.
The findings show that students have not only failed to regain ground lost during the pandemic, but also have demonstrated little, if any, improvement since last year.
Slumping test scores spanned nearly all student demographics and school district types, from affluent suburbs to lower-income urban districts, stretching from Duxbury to Pittsfield. State Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez offered a blunt assessment of student achievement when he spoke Monday at a press briefing.
“We’re still not where we want to be,” Martinez said, “in terms of our results.”
Across the state, children in grades 3 to 8 scored on average about the same as their predecessors last year in math, while English results only slid slightly. But scores on both tests were far below pre-pandemic levels.
The drop in high school English scores year over year was much more significant. With MCAS no longer a graduation requirement, the results raised questions of whether high school students are less prepared academically or merely less motivated to do well on the test.
On the English exam, the share of 10th-graders meeting expectations fell by 6 points for a second year in a row, to 45 percent. Just five years ago, more than 60 percent of students passed the test.
International test scores have shown similar declines across much of the world, reinforcing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence, school-issued laptops, and cellphones on student learning.
While Massachusetts still tops the rankings on the Nation’s Report Card tests, the state’s continued decline in test scores, including among the youngest students, suggests that position could be in jeopardy.
“Our leaders have been asleep at the wheel, and I hope they wake up before Massachusetts loses its lead in K-12 education,” said Thomas Kane, a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.
The results did not surprise former state education secretary Paul Reville, who noted that scores are down across the country. But Reville said he fears that many students are not learning skills they need to thrive as adults.
“That should be an urgent concern,” Reville said.
The new scores are the results of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams that are given in spring. The tests, better known as MCAS, are administered to students in grades 3 through 8 and 10. Statewide, more than 450,000 students at traditional public schools and charter schools took the exams, representing roughly about half the publicly funded school population.
Research shows that the exams matter. Students who consistently score well on standardized tests such as MCAS are more likely to attend and graduate from college and earn more as adults.
For a second year in a row, Martinez expressed optimism despite declining test scores, saying Massachusetts’ high standards and investment in education will help schools reverse the trend.
He pointed to the state’s recent overhaul of reading instruction as a reason to hope a turnaround is already underway. That law, signed by Governor Maura Healey in June, will require districts to use state-approved evidence-based literacy curriculums that include teaching children to sound out words, vocabulary building, oral comprehension, and more.
“We’re already working with hundreds of schools on what we know are the right solutions,” Martinez said. “The literacy bill now allows us to implement those practices statewide.”
Education Secretary Stephen Zrike also praised increased school funding and highlighted the administration’s proposed new high school graduation requirements. That plan, which may still need legislative action, would introduce new tests in core subjects that could influence whether students earn a diploma, among other requirements.
”Every Massachusetts student should leave high school not just with a diploma,” Zrike said, “but with meaningful choices and real opportunities ahead.”
Massachusetts continues to have large achievement gaps by race, income, and native language, with the size of those disparities changing little. Deputy Education Commissioner Robert Curtin said that in some cases gaps narrowed because higher-performing groups declined particularly fast, “not because the bottom group rose.”
Scores declined even for students who were not yet in school during the pandemic. This cohort of third-graders, who were toddlers during COVID, had a passing rate 13 points lower in English and 7 points lower in math than their counterparts in 2019.
Results in many individual school districts were similarly dismal. The state’s largest cities of Boston, Springfield, and Worcester all reported sharp declines in high school English scores and little progress elsewhere.
Boston officials issued a press release highlighting a rise in math scores in grades 6 and 8 and an uptick on the 8th-grade science exam. Superintendent Mary Skipper declined an interview request but was quoted in the release.
“These results reflect steady progress across Boston Public Schools,” Skipper said, “while also reinforcing the importance of our continued focus on improving student academic performance.”
Chelsea Superintendent Almi Guajardo Abeyta pointed to bright spots in her city, which included a jump in math scores in grades 3 to 8. However, high school scores fell in both English and math. Abeyta noted that because MCAS is no longer a graduation requirement, there has been less investment in student assessments.
“Massachusetts districts will need to think carefully about how we communicate the purpose and importance of the Grade 10” MCAS, Abeyta said. “At the same time, we are not using that as an excuse for our results.”
Scores at the state’s charter schools also remained well below pre-pandemic levels. In Grade 10, for example, nearly two-thirds of students earned passing grades in 2019, but last year fewer than half of them did.
The new MCAS scores echo the latest international PISA test results, which earlier this month showed declines among 15-year-olds in the United States and across the world.
Students scored worse on the PISA test if they used AI chatbots regularly, used computers for leisure at school, or reported high levels of digital distraction, according to an analysis of the results by Andreas Schleicher, the education chief of the organization that released the test.
A few countries, including the United Kingdom and Turkey, bucked the trend of declining scores, which indicated that schools can successfully manage technological challenges.
In Massachusetts, last spring’s MCAS included the second year of eighth-grade civics testing, which covers the principles behind the US political system, the structure of Massachusetts state government, and more. Forty percent of students passed the new assessment, a slight increase from 39 percent the previous year.
The state on Tuesday also released accountability determinations for schools and districts, which are based on MCAS scores and other indicators, such as graduation rates and absenteeism. Fifty-six schools were named “Schools of Recognition” based on growth or achievement, including some with high poverty rates such as Boston’s Grew Elementary School and Lynn’s Lincoln-Thomson School.
The state also identified 37 districts and 315 schools as needing assistance or intervention, with both groups growing slightly since 2025. Although the MCAS is no longer a graduation requirement, it remains the core of the state’s accountability system, which is a federal requirement. Schools and districts that perform poorly, in whole or among particular subgroups, can face state intervention or even a state takeover.
Massachusetts has not done enough to stop the decline in test scores, according to Edward Lambert, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. Even a 2019 law that pumped more money into schools in low-income communities, Lambert said, hasn’t revered the trend.
“We need to get serious about getting back to the business of accountability,” Lambert said.
Christopher Huffaker can be reached at christopher.huffaker@globe.com. Follow him @huffakingit. John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com or on Signal at john_hilliard.70. Follow him on Bluesky at iamjohnhilliard.bsky.social.