Does Woburn need to improve its school system?

by Megan Clark

Earlier this month, Boston Magazine released their “Best Schools” edition, wherein they listed the top ranked schools in the Greater Boston area.  Woburn Public Schools, ranked outside of the top 100 schools, fell at 113 out of a total on 147 schools.  Many of Woburn’s surrounding towns were ranked fairly higher than Woburn, such as Burlington at 76, Winchester at 13, and even Lexington at 3.

            The ranking system that the Boston Magazine used to determine the placement of schools was based off of 20 different classifications consisting of topics such as: class size, the percent of graduating students entering college the following year, and both MCAS and SAT scores.  Woburn has been struggling with some of the categories for the past few years, such SAT scores, falling below average on a state-wide scale.

            To students, it is never all that obvious where their school stands compared to other schools, but it is clear when you are faced with a standardized test.  When asked for their opinion on where Woburn Public Schools falls in the ranking of the Greater Boston area, senior Caterina Gentile had a very strong opinion.

            “As far as the ranking goes, I am not really surprised.  I feel as though there aren’t many classes that actually help me, there are maybe one or two classes per year where I feel as if I actually learned something useful,” said Gentile.  “Some of the stuff on the SATs was curriculum that I have never seen before, and I feel as though the same thing happened to me with the math MCAS.”

            Gentile has a great first-hand experience with the school system, being a senior at Woburn Memorial High School, and her peers at school can also relate to the feelings felt about Woburn’s school system due to her history with the MCAS and SATs.  Unlike Gentile, senior Kara Razzaboni believes that Woburn is fine the way it is.

            “I think that Woburn has something that other towns lack, and that is opportunity.  I have switched schools many times and I have never had an easier time making friends or getting involved than I have with Woburn,” said Razzaboni.  “I also think that teachers in Woburn really try and get to know their students and behave as a mentor and role-model to students and it really makes me feel like they don’t just care about us getting a good grade in their class.”

Woburn has many clubs and sports to involve students and help them make new friends, as well as the Freshman Mentoring program which is run to help freshmen get used to the school and also have a student role-model to reach out to.  Students oftentimes have a hard time talking about their problems, and Jack Schneider, journalist for The Washington Post, feels as though teachers have more of a job than just teaching.

“Yes it matters that history teachers know history and chemistry teachers know chemistry.  But it also matters that history teachers know their students, and that chemistry teachers know how to spot a kid in need.  It matters that teachers have strong academic backgrounds.  But it also matters that they can relate to young people – that they see them, hear them, and care for them,” said Schneider.

Schneider also takes pride in his teaching background, being a role model to many kids who needed it.

“Thank you for being the role model I needed,” said one of Schneider’s past students.

Apart from talking to teachers, students often seek guidance from their parents also.  When they are struggling with school work, it allows parents to see the holes that need to be filled within the school system.  Peg Clark, who has had children enrolled with Woburn Public Schools for 21 years, is very disappointed with Woburn’s rank.

            “After I had read that Woburn was in the lower 25^th percentile of the Greater Boston area, I was unimpressed, but was also not shocked.  I strongly believe that Woburn needs to take a deeper look into the problems that the school system is facing and make a change.  It makes me wonder whatever happened to WE³: Woburn Expects Excellence in Education,” stated Clark.

Apart from parents, teachers also have their own ideas on Woburn’s rank.  When asked about their opinion on the Boston Magazine’s list, Woburn Memorial High School English teacher, Kristen McMahon feels as though the school system needs to address more possible reasons as to why Woburn is failing in certain areas.

            “I believe that Boston Magazine needs to take a look at demographics, and base the ranking of the school system with other schools like Woburn’s,” said McMahon.  “I have had students come into my class without knowing any English, whereas in towns like Winchester, almost every student speaks English as their primary language.  It is not fair to Woburn.”

            McMahon points out some interesting points, and others would concur with them, such as comparing Woburn to more alike towns.  Amy Maynes, who is a seventh grade science teacher at the Joyce Middle School, believes that Woburn does not deserve the rank that they received. 

            “I wasn’t surprised at all by the ranking although I definitely didn’t agree with them.  I don’t think the data that they use to ‘rank’ schools is entirely fair.  Is it a really good idea to rank a school because of MCAS scores? Or by the percentage of students that go on to college?  There are just too many variables to consider,” said Maynes.

Although Woburn has been ranked 113 of 147 in the Greater Boston Area, the classifications going into the list contains many qualifications where it is unfair to towns like Woburn where there needs to many more credentials that go into the scoring.  For instance, if Woburn were to be compared with Medford at 124 or Peabody at 123, Woburn would fall right in line with them, and if not, look better.

While Woburn may have received poor MCAS and SAT scores in past years, but recent data has shown improvement in these areas.  At Wednesday’s School Committee meeting, Superintendent Mark Donovan presented the district’s MCAS results for 2013. According to the state’s data, Woburn has improved in every category of both the SAT and MCAS tests since 2012.  This may not mean that Woburn has improved their standings against other school districts, but Woburn has improved within themselves.

What many people do not know, is that Massachusetts schools typically outscore every other state in the United States, and each school in Massachusetts annually receives a designation based on test performances.  This designation ranges from a Level 5 school, which is the lowest, to Level 1, being the highest.  Every year, Woburn receives the designation as a Level 2 school, but this year, Woburn was only a mere two points away from receiving a Level 1 designation. 

No ranking, poor of favorable, means that Woburn cannot continue to make adjustments to improve upon their school system.  Some may believe that Woburn needs to make drastic changes in their school system to become more like other schools where their SAT scores are profound and 100% of students graduate high school and travel on into college, but in the end, the most important thing is remembering that not every school is the same.

Works Cited

Schneider, Jack. "What's Missing from Education Policy Debate." The Washington Post. N.p., 6

Sept. 2013. Web. 9 Sept. 2013.

For a look at the DESE comparable schools analysis, click here.