By John Monfredo, Worcester School Committee member
In September 2006 the Worcester Technical High School, formerly known as Worcester Voke, opened their $90-million facility to the students. Their goal was and still is “creating the future through technology, training and talent.” This 400,000-square-foot building is a state of the arts, technology rich, six-building school complex with a premier athletic field. The facility has garnered praise from educators in districts both in and out of state.
The magnificence of this structure is matched by its equally impressive record of student performance. According to Principal Shelia Harrity, the school has reached the Annual Yearly Progress benchmarks for No Child Left Behind in English, Math and every subgroup three years in a row. Consider this: 59% of all schools in Massachusetts have not reached their benchmarks.
When you look at the MCAS scores at Worcester Technical High School (WTHS), one sees a steady progress being attained. This year the school in its English Language Arts MCAS had 4% of their 10th graders reach advanced ranking, 52% scored proficient (as compared to two years ago), 40% were in need of improvement and 4% failed. English Language Arts increased by 6% in proficient, decreased failure by 3% in one year and 10% in two years. The school goal is to eliminate all failures within the next few years. In math, in 2008, the same steady progress continued, with 23% in advanced (in the last two years), 34% in proficient, 33% in need of improvement and a failure of 10%. Thus, there was an improvement rate of 3% in advanced, 13% in advanced over two years, improved by 8% in proficient in one year, a decrease in failure rate by 6% in one year and a decrease in failure rate by 13% over two years.
