Cambridge Sees Historically High Science and Math MCAS Scores, But Racial and Socioeconomic Gaps Remain

Third through eighth grade Cambridge Public School students achieved the highest scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System math and science exams that the district has seen in at least a decade — but Black and low-income students continue to fall behind their peers, according to a Tuesday district presentation.

Fifty-seven percent of students met or exceeded expectations in math, compared to 41 percent statewide. And in every grade, most students surpassed their pre-pandemic scores.

But Black and low-income students remained the only populations that have not yet exceeded their 2019 scores.

Math proficiency among Black students remained eight percentage points below the 2019 scores, while proficiency for low-income students remained five points lower. Black students in the district scored two percentage points above the statewide average for Black students, but remained 28 points behind white students in both the district and state.

School Committee member Arjun K. Jaikumar asked whether the figures showed an uneven recovery for Black students post-pandemic, or whether the data pointed to slower math growth. Superintendent David G. Murphy said recovery was uneven and said the growth data raised a question about “whether or not our Black students are being treated profoundly differently.”

“We know that we have students that are not being treated the way they need to be treated in terms of how well supported they are,” Murphy said.

The district’s presentation did not break down the scores on the science exam by demographic, instead highlighting the differences in results between grade levels. The share of fifth-graders meeting or exceeding expectations fell nine percentage points from last year, with 52 percent scoring at or above benchmarks this year. Eighth-grade proficiency rose two points, to 49 percent, while high school science proficiency fell two points, to 51 percent. Cambridge remained above the state average at each grade level.

When Committee Chair David J. Weinstein asked why the presentation did not break down science results by student group. Jennifer Amigone, the district’s director of data, assessment, and accountability, said the disparities followed a similar pattern to those in math and were, in some cases, more pronounced.

Committee members pressed administrators to detail district-level changes that could be made to improve scores. Committee member Elizabeth C. P. Hudson cautioned against treating year-to-year fluctuations as lasting trends and asked officials to differentiate initiatives that could have affected the 2026 scores from those introduced afterward.

Committee Member Richard Harding Jr. asked what the district was doing at the classroom level to address the persistent share of students falling short of state expectations. Murphy said that the district is focused on “execution and holding individual professionals accountable.”

“We will take action when necessary,” Murphy said.

Vice Chair Caitlin E. Dube ’05 pushed officials to explain what had changed in classrooms beyond adopting new curricula. Chief Academic Officer Heather Francis cited collaborative approaches to math instruction, visits between teachers’ classrooms, and additional support in eighth-grade math classes.

The discussion followed the committee’s review of English Language Arts scores earlier this month, when members similarly urged administrators to establish measurable goals for closing achievement gaps.