By James Vaznis, The Boston Globe, March 24, 2009

MALDEN—Each fall when the state releases MCAS scores, principals often blame a dip in scores on the students, tactfully arguing that the class in question was perhaps not as superb a group of mathematicians or voracious readers as their predecessors.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2009/03/24/state_plans_to_track_students_progress_not_just_scores/