Of the 3,063 students who took part in the English Language Arts portion of the MCAS, 66.4% scored below proficiency in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
In comparison, 30.8% met the subject benchmarks and 2.8% exceeded them.
The number of Peabody Public Schools District students who failed their English Language Arts assessments fell by 3.4% from the previous school year.
Peabody Public Schools District roughly covers schools within Essex County and has a main office in Peabody.
In the 2022-23 school year, 467,444 students took the English Language Arts test in Massachusetts with 55.3% failing the exam, 1.8% less than the year before.
According to a 2025 analysis from WalletHub, Massachusetts education system was considered the best in the nation, based on factors such as class size, student performance, funding, school safety, and teacher qualifications.
| School Name | Students who did not meet standards (%) |
|---|---|
| Captain Samuel Brown School | 76.6% |
| Center | 69.2% |
| J. Henry Higgins Middle School | 64.4% |
| John E. Burke School | 63.5% |
| John E. McCarthy School | 61.3% |
| Peabody Personalized Remote Education Program (Peabody P.R.E.P.) | 66.7% |
| Peabody Veterans Memorial High School | 56.8% |
| South Memorial School | 64.6% |
| Thomas Carroll School | 75.2% |
| West Memorial School | 56.7% |
| William A. Welch Senior School | 79.2% |
