Test Expectations: How many John B. Devalles School students failed to meet the math MCAS expectations in 2023-24 school year?

Of the 121 students of John B. Devalles School who took part in the math portion of the MCAS in the 2023-24 school year, 109 (90.1%) did not meet the testing standard, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The students' overall failure rate in the subject grew by 11.4% in the 2023-24 school year from the previous school year.

Across the New Bedford Public Schools District, which John B. Devalles School is part of, 80.6% of students did not meet the required math standards of the MCAS.

In the 2023-24 school year, 464,292 students took the math test in Massachusetts with 269,107 failing, unchanged from the year before.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MCAS was suspended in 2020, following the federal government's decision to allow states to waive statewide assessments for that year.

Massachusetts spends more money on K-12 education per pupil than most other states, ranking fifth in the nation, according to a 2025 report. The state allocates over $24,000 per pupil, totaling $22.5 billion annually.

Subject	Number of Students Tested	Number of Students Who Did Not Meet Standards	Failure Rate (%)	Change from Previous Year (%)
Math	121	109	90.1%	11.4%
ELA	121	108	89.3%	6.3%
Science	30	29	96.7%	24.4%