Merrimack Valley Education

2025 MCAS Performance Dashboard — Haverhill, Methuen & Lawrence

28%
Haverhill
ELA Proficient
30%
Methuen
ELA Proficient
18%
Lawrence
ELA Proficient
43%
State Avg
ELA Proficient
Haverhill
Methuen
Lawrence
State Average
-15pts
Haverhill Gap
from State ELA
-13pts
Methuen Gap
from State ELA
-25pts
Lawrence Gap
from State ELA
5th Worst
Lawrence Rank
in MA

ELA Performance vs State Average

All three cities fall far below state average: Lawrence has only 18% proficiency — the 5th lowest in Massachusetts. Even Methuen at 30% is 13 points below state.

Gap from State Average — All Subjects

Average Scaled Scores

28%
Haverhill
ELA
29%
Haverhill
Math
30%
Methuen
ELA
27%
Methuen
Math
18%
Lawrence
ELA
19%
Lawrence
Math

MCAS % Meeting/Exceeding Expectations

Consistent underperformance: All three cities lag state averages by 13-25 percentage points across all subjects.

Average Scaled Scores by Subject

Performance Distribution

27%
Haverhill
Not Meeting ELA
25%
Methuen
Not Meeting ELA
41%
Lawrence
Not Meeting ELA
3x
Lawrence vs
State Gap

Students NOT Meeting Expectations

Crisis level in Lawrence: 41% fail ELA, 36% fail Math. Nearly 4 in 10 students are being left behind — 2-3x the state average.
$77,182
Haverhill
Avg Salary
$79,604
Methuen
Avg Salary
$74,603
Lawrence
Avg Salary
$81,399
State Avg
Salary

Average Teacher Salary (2020-21)

All below state average: Every district pays teachers less than the state average of $81,399.

Teacher Attendance (2025)

Educator Evaluations (2021-22)

Lawrence shows highest "Exemplary" rate: 25.4% of Lawrence educators rated exemplary vs 7.8% in Haverhill and 4.0% in Methuen, despite worst student outcomes.
49
Haverhill
ELA SGP
52
Haverhill
Math SGP
48
Methuen
ELA SGP
51
Methuen
Math SGP
51
Lawrence
ELA SGP
53
Lawrence
Math SGP

Student Growth Percentile (SGP)

Good news — students are growing: All three cities show typical or above-typical growth (SGP 48-53), meaning students make progress even if achievement levels remain low.

All Metrics Comparison (Normalized)