34.6% of Michael E. Smith Middle School students met or exceeded ELA MCAS expectations in 2023-24 school year

Of the 492 students of Michael E. Smith Middle School who took part in the ELA portion of the MCAS in the 2023-24 school year, 143 met the testing standard (29.1%), while 27 exceeded expectations (5.5%), according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The students' overall success rate in the subject dropped by 4.4% in the 2023-24 school year from the previous school year.

South Hadley Public Schools District, which Michael E. Smith Middle School is part of, reached an average proficiency rate of 38.5% in ELA during the 2023-24 school year.

Meanwhile, 33.3% of Michael E. Smith Middle School students hit the math benchmarks, and 43% were considered proficient in science.

At the time, 464,640 students took the ELA test in Massachusetts, with 194,364 students passing (41.8%) — 2.9% less than the year before.

According to a 2025 analysis from WalletHub, Massachusetts education system was considered the best in the nation, based on factors such as class size, student performance, funding, school safety, and teacher qualifications.

Subject	Number of Students Tested	Number of Students Passing	Proficiency Rate (%)	Change from Previous Year (%)
Math	492	164	33.3%	-0.1%
ELA	492	170	34.6%	-4.4%
Science	249	107	43%	-5.6%