Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D.

Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Maiden, Massachusetts 02148-4906 Telephone: (781) 338-3000
TTY: N.E.T. Relay 1-800-439-2370
June 20,2014
Daniel J. Warwick, Superintendent
Springfield Public Schools
1550 Main Street
Springfield, MA 01103
Dear Superintendent Warwick:
As you know, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has been conducting an
investigation into anomalous MCAS test results at the Mary A. Dryden Veterans Memorial
School. Based upon the findings of the investigation to date, I am convinced that the test
administrations in the years 2011, 2012, and 2013 were compromised, and that student- and
school-level results from those years are not valid. Consequently, the Department will
immediately invalidate Dryden Memorial School's MCAS test results in English Language Arts
(ELA), Mathematics, and Science and Technology/Engineering for all grades for 2011, 2012,
and 2013.
I want to make clear that there is no evidence to suggest that students were at fault or played any
role in the testing irregularities.
The Department began its investigation when routine analyses showed statistical anomalies in
Dryden Memorial School's MCAS test results in recent years, including large increases in
student achievement from one year to the next, and disparities between students' performance on
multiple-choice questions compared to their performance on open-response questions. The
Department's investigation has revealed widespread erasures of students' responses to multiple-
choice questions, and the replacement of incorrect answers with correct answers. The
Department has also conducted analyses that showed significant declines in MCAS scores and
Student Growth Percentiles for Dryden graduates who enter Springfield middle schools.
Given the uncertainty surrounding prior years' results, the Department worked closely with your
office this spring to preserve the integrity of the spring 2014 MCAS administration and ensure
the validity of the results. We did so by requesting that your office monitor and coordinate the
MCAS test administrations, with Department oversight, at Dryden Memorial School, and that
you maintain custody of the test materials in secure storage at the district central office when
they were not at the school for testing. I want to thank you and the district's staff for your full
cooperation with this request. Based on the district's reports and our first-hand observations of
the test administrations, we have confidencethat the 2014 test results are valid. Accordingly, the
Department will report 2014 results for Dryden Memorial School. However, due to the
invalidation of prior years' results, students will not receive student growth scores with their
2014 results.
It is clear that MCAS answer booklets at Dryden Memorial School were tampered with and
compromised in the years 2011,2012, and 2013.1 am deeply troubled by this finding because
such actions undermine the hard work, integrity, and commitment of Springfield's educators and
students. These actions deny parents, educators, and the community critical insights into
students' academic achievement and progress.
I know that you take this matter as seriously as I do. I appreciate your continued cooperation
with the Department's ongoing investigation.
Sincerely,
Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D.
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education