THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 9, 2026 Page 5 ACCESS | FROM PAGE 1 “What great news! I might want to start using that as a screenshot on my cellphone!” quipped School Committee Chairperson and Mayor Gary Christenson. At Monday night’s regular Malden School Committee meeting, leaders from the Malden Public Schools presented a complete report on the annual state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Accountability results. Each year DESE collects a wide range of data to help improve teaching and learning in Massachusetts schools and uses school and student data to enable the accountability system, which targets resources and assistance where they are needed in various districts. One of the major parts of the DESE Accountability Report is monitoring the progress of students in the category of English Learners (EL). DESE categorizes EL students as those who are not yet able to do their regular classwork in English language and whose first spoken language is a language other than English. The Malden Public Schools (MPS) is particularly impacted with the monitoring since just over 30 percent of all MPS students are in the EL category across all grades, 1-12, close to 2,000 students in all. These students are from a non-English background and need extra support to understand and complete regular schoolwork in English. In Massachusetts public schools, EL students are administered the standardized Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-toState (ACCESS) test annually. The ACCESS test is a language assessment which monitors the annual progress of multilingual and English learners in grades K-12 and tests in four core facets: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. At Monday’s meeting MPS leaders, led by third-year Superintendent of Schools Dr. Timothy Sippel and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Bhasin, reported that MPS has “improved across the district, all grades” in ACCESS testing results for EL learners. “We made a big investment in curriculum and coaching our educators in the past year and we are really excited about the results with our [EL students],” Bhasin said, in leading the presentation at the School Committee meeting podium. “In all grades, especially in grades K-8, we have made substantial progress.” Bhasin said district leaders were also pleased with an impressive showing in ACCESS results from students district-wide, where EL students showed notable gains in the 2025-26 school year from the previous year. Malden students outperformed the state and peer district average with a marked difference at the grades 1-5 level, with an impressive 60.1 percent hitting progress/proficiency targets across the board, compared to 54.5 percent from the previous 2024-25 school year and 45.4 percent in 2023-24. “That was very exciting since they are the first students our educators are interacting with and they are getting that foundation,” Bhasin told the School Committee. In grades 6-8 the improvement also continued, 49.3 percent showing progress this past year, greater than 44.5 percent in 2024-25 and a low of 31.4 percent in 2023-24. Overall, districtwide, Bhasin reported 51.8 percent hitting progress in proficiency marks in 2025-26, greater than the previous two school years, including 41 percent in 2023-24, a more than 20 percent increase in just two years. “We are especially pleased to report steady improvement in ACCESS results from our students with disabilities as well,” said Assistant Supt. Bhasin. “We want to continue this improvement in all areas, all grades, and we have an action plan we believe will allow us to do so.” For Advertising with Results, call The Advocate Newspapers at 617-387-2200 orInfo@advocatenews.net Upcoming Family Movie Night at the Malden Public Library P lease join the Malden Public Library (MPL) for Family Movie Night on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, from 6:008:00 p.m. MPL will be showing the 2026 film “The Sheep Detectives,”which is based on Leonie Swann’s book “Three Bags Full.” The film stars Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson and the voices of Patrick Stewart, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Regina Hall. “In this witty new breed of mystery, George is a shepherd who reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can’t possibly understand. But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realize they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers.” Rated PG — 109 minutes. Free snacks will be provided. Movie times are approximate. Lawrence A. Simeone Jr. Attorney-at-Law ~ Since 1989 ~ * Corporate Litigation * Criminal/Civil * MCAD * Zoning/Land Court * Wetlands Litigation * Workmen’s Compensation * Landlord/Tenant Litigation * Real Estate Law * Construction Litigation * Tax Lien * Personal Injury * Bankruptcy * Wrongful Death * Zoning/Permitting Litigation 300 Broadway, Suite 1, Revere * 781-286-1560 lsimeonejr@simeonelaw.net SAY HELLO TO FAMILIAR FACES AND EASY BANKING. Tina Caruso VP, Business Development and Client Services Tina and Malinda are bringing their Medford roots and banking expertise to Everett Bank. Stop by 501 High Street and see what we mean by easy means more. Malinda Reagan VP, Branch Manager EverettBank.com
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