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Determined swimmers / P. 32
Really big birthday / P. 3 An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Sunday, September 12. 2021
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com
VOTE NOW Pandemic impacted MPS student achievement scores BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
T
he two biggest drops in achievement testing statewide were math scores and the number of students who took the standardized test. Like many other districts, Mesa Public Schools had a similar drop in the number of students who took the test, with math tests in MPS plummeting – an early indicator that teaching math remotely is a challenge, squared. Test scores in Arizona fell across the board last school year, as COVID-19 upended learning through the year and led to a sharp drop in the number of students taking the tests, the
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Arizona Department of Education said. Results released by the department last week showed that 38 percent of students got “satisfactory” grades on the language test and 31 percent passed the math test in 2021, compared to 42 percent for both tests in 2019, the last year for which test results are available. The test was administered last spring; there was no testing last year. Mesa Public Schools nearly mirrored the state results, with 37 percent listed as “passing” English Language Arts and 31 percent passing the math test. (The state tests are now known as AzM2.) In 2019, 41 percent of MPS students who took the English test passed, with 43 percent
of those who took the math test passing. An important footnote: Only about 26,000 students took the most recent tests, compared to 42,000 in 2019. For this and other reasons, the Department of Education warned that results from the pandemic year “need to be viewed with extreme caution” when compared to other years. “When considering the results of students who did take the test, it is important to remember the learning disruptions from COVID-19 that may have impacted student learning in unforeseen ways,” the department said in a note released with the data.
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‘Craftery Row’ is a frothy downtown scene in Mesa BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
P
erhaps there’s a reason Mesa rhymes with cerveza. You could practically blow the head off your beer at the Chupacabra Taproom and hit the Oro Brewing Company, which is a steinslide from Desert Eagle Brewing Company. After a few elbow tilts at each of these, a little fresh air and block-walk down to 12 West Brewing Company might be in order. For dessert? Mango Foxtrot, Blackberry
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The Mesa downtown beer scene is anchored by the Chupacabra Taproom, launched here two years ago by East Valley natives Trent Smith, Mountain View High, class of 1990, left, and Eric Cady. (Pablo Robles/Tribune Staff Photographer)
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