Math skills are critical to a variety of careers and important for life skills ranging from budgeting and smart shopping to understanding the news. The middle school math examination serves as a checkpoint for high school preparation; performance on this exam can help predict high school success in math.

In 2023, 46% of 8th graders were considered proficient in MetroWest, a significant drop from 2019. This was higher than the 2023 statewide rate of 38%.

Students in MetroWest from economically disadvantaged backgrounds had a proficiency rate of 21% in 2023, compared to 59% of those who were not economically disadvantaged. The proficiency rate was highest among the region's Asian students (76%), followed by students who were white (50%), Black or African American (21%) and Hispanic or Latino (20%). Rates for all groups in MetroWest were slightly higher than those at the state level, but the region's racial and ethnic disparities were similar to Massachusetts as a whole. While losses occurred in all groups from 2019 to 2023, proficiency among white students decreased 8 points.

Among individual districts, rates were highest, in 2023, in Lexington (81%), Carlisle (80%), Acton-Boxborough (78%) and Hopkinton and Needham (both at 76%), and lowest in Christa McAuliffe (18%), Marlborough and Boston (24%), Framingham, Hudson, and Milford (all at 25%) and Foxborough (27%).

Studies point to a variety of factors believed to contribute to disparities in test scores and other measures of student achievement. School systems in the United States are highly segregated, and students of color disproportionately attend schools with high proportions of low-income students who may not have benefited from early learning opportunities at the same rate as other students. Schools also have different levels of resources ranging from qualified/experienced teachers to advanced courses to facilities and technology, and schools with large Black and Latino populations often have lower levels. In addition, teachers across all school systems tend to be disproportionately white, and teaching practices and curriculum may not be culturally relevant to students of color.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education did not administer Spring 2020 MCAS for the 2019-2020 school year due to the cancellation of state assessments and school closures related to COVID-19. As assessments vary among states, it is not possible to include comparable data for the nation or other areas in this indicator. Data from earlier years is not comparable due to changes in the state test.