By Andie Scibetta, news correspondent

Mass. public schools have seen a significant drop in ratings recently. The ratings, which came out in conjunction with the recent Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) scores, show a negative trend. According to this year’s MCAS data, only 414 schools secured a Level 1 rating, compared to 510 schools in 2012. Specifically in Boston, seven fewer schools are rated Level 1 this year than last year.

The Massachusetts Board of Education’s website gives a detailed summary of the changes made to the report this year. Among them are a higher importance placed on growth in schools. A Level 1 school is meeting the goal of cutting in half the gaps in proficiency between students at any sort of a disadvantage and other students by 2017.

Jacqueline Reis, media relations coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, says that the ratings help schools evaluate their progress.

“For high-performing districts, the ratings help shine a light on where subgroups of students might be lagging,” Reis said. “For lower-performing districts, the ratings help bring a sense of urgency to improving schools… Overall, the system helps pinpoint exactly which schools need the state’s help the most.”

Ratings also inform the school board’s  decisions on which schools need extra help. When a school drops as low as Level 4, the school board starts to focus more on improving them.

“At Level 4, it also triggers a very specific improvement process, and at Level 5, schools fall into state receivership,” Reis said. “When schools and districts don’t meet those goals or have scores that fall into the lowest 20 percent of the state’s schools, they fall out of Level 1.”

Although the statistics don’t look great at first glance, things aren’t all bad for Boston schools.

“Boston International High School in Dorchester and William E. Russell Elementary School in Dorchester both went from Level 3 to Level 1,” Reis said. “Burke High School in Dorchester became the first high school in the state to exit Level 4 status when it entered Level 3 this year. Hurley K-8 in the South End and Conley Elementary School in Roslindale were both named Commendation Schools by the state for narrowing proficiency gaps, and UP Academy Boston in South Boston was named Commendation School for high progress.”

Infographic by Miharu Sugie