The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education named Needham the number one K–12 district in the state for the second year running.
“We were really excited,” said assistant superintendent of instruction and innovation Carmen Williams.
Each year, DESE assesses how school districts are progressing toward targets and standards, awarding each district a score based on data from official accountability reports.
The scores are calculated with a complex formula that accounts for multiple years of data, and considers a district’s MCAS test scores alongside factors such as growth, achievement of subgroups, advanced coursework completion, graduation rates and chronic absenteeism.
The formula also compares districts of similar size and demographics. “We’re looking at growth against ourselves, and growth compared to our neighbors,” said Williams.
The resulting score is a number between 0 and 100.
Needham earned the top ranking for the first time last year, with a score of 93: the highest score the district had ever received. To achieve that score, Williams said Needham exceeded most of its target goals.
“We were really excited to get that 93, because what that meant was we had significant growth last year,” she said. “That growth we really saw amongst our students that are typically marginalized.”
This year, although Needham’s overall ranking remained unchanged, the district did see a slight score decrease. The district’s overall score dropped from 93 to 90. Performance data from the 2026 school year dropped from 93 in 2025 to 88.
Although Needham is officially ranked in third place based on its overall score, the districts with number one and number two rankings are K–6 and K–8 districts. These districts’ DESE formulas do not take into consideration graduation rates or drop-out rates, since they do not include high schools.
“It’s not exactly apples to apples,” said Williams.
Williams added that a score drop was “somewhat expected,” saying, “This year, we were kind of wondering where we might land, because maintaining extreme growth is rare.” She noted that, because DESE rankings are dependent on a complicated formula, the rankings are a “moving target.”
What the numbers say
Results from this year’s report show that Needham’s subgroups continued to improve. Low-performing students, students with high needs and students with disabilities saw increased scores in their target percentages.
Some subgroups are seeing maintained growth, Williams said, but not the accelerated growth the district would like them to experience. “Our special needs students are not seeing the growth that we want,” she noted. Low-income students, and English Learners and Former English Learners, were among the subgroups who saw a slight decrease in their target percentages.
Williams said the district is hoping their new literacy curriculum — implemented for the first time this year — will close opportunity gaps in the coming year.
“The district has committed a significant amount of finances, because we see this as the priority,” she said. “So we have a plan in place; it’s just looking for opportunities to implement the plan well, and that will take time.”
Among ethnic subgroups, target percentages for Asian students remained the same as last year, while Black or African American students saw significant increases in their target percentages. White students and multi-race students who are not Hispanic or Latino saw a slight decrease in target percentages, while Hispanic or Latino students saw a significant decrease.
Williams noted that it can be difficult to get an accurate sense of subgroups’ achievements and growth, since these groups represent a smaller portion of the student population and are often more transient.
“We are excited to see that [a] subgroup is having some extreme growth, and we would still need to look closer to understand, ‘Are these students that have been with us their entire academic career? Are they coming in and moving out?’”
Needham’s MCAS scores reflected increased progress toward attaining English language proficiency. Scores also reflected a slight drop in science achievement among all students in non-high school grades, a slight drop in English language arts achievement among lowest-performing students in non-high school grades, and a slight drop in English language arts growth among all students.
Despite incremental drops in achievement and growth, the percentage of Needham students who met or exceeded expectations on MCAS 2026 tests was still higher than state results by 20% or more across the board.
Williams said the district uses DESE data primarily to examine their practices and educators.
“Are we prioritizing the right academic standards, are we applying pedagogy and instructions that are connecting with students so that they are inspired and motivated to partner with us in learning?”
The district continues to require MCAS assessments at the high school level, not to keep students from graduating but to help educators better come alongside students during their time in Needham schools, said Williams. “With the growth that we’re seeing, I think we’re on the right track,” she added.
Williams said it is too early to speak to theories on changes in numbers or trends from the DESE report, but that Needham is digging into the data to understand trends over time. A closer analysis of results and possible trends will be presented to the School Committee Oct. 20. In the meantime, students’ reports are available to parents online and will also be sent home in the coming weeks.
“MCAS scores are just one indicator of how we’re doing as an institution — but it’s an important one,” said Williams.
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