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MCAS in the News March 2 - March 8, 2003
In the deluge of MCAS news this week:
- DOE releases its MCAS pass rate report to great
applause for the 90% pass rate reported for seniors
statewide and in 204 out of 270 communities; in other communities,
reports point to the continued racial gap linked to
MCAS scores;
- With class of 2003 pass rates reported, school counselors and administrators
from several South Shore districts, including
Whitman-Hanson, Marshfield, and
Randolph, report some
discouraged seniors are dropping out in the face of failing MCAS
scores;
- In other districts - including Boston,
Fitchburg, and Beverly
- officials say pass rates should be restated at higher
levels because some students are in adult ed or GED programs or because
12th gr. enrollments are lower now than in October.
- In still other communities, school committees - including those in
Lawrence, Amesbury,
Newburyport, and So. Hadley - move toward
awarding diplomas to all students;
- In Holyoke, school officials consider ways to
include all seniors in graduation ceremonies, even
if they will not receive a diploma, while Springfield
discusses how to treat 337 seniors still failing
MCAS;
- A national report from the National Board on Educational
Testing and Public Policy at Boston College finds that in states with
high stakes testing, teachers report spending less time on
subjects not tested, while increasingly teaching to the test;
- A couple op-eds comment on the
fairness of MCAS results;
- An indepth Boston Globe Sunday magazine article
looks at the testing industry and MCAS.
AP wire/Boston.com, 3/4: Teachers slam high stakes
testing, study finds
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/063/region/Teachers_slam_high_stakes_test:.shtml
BOSTON (AP) High-stakes tests are forcing some public
school teachers to abandon their core mission of providing a well-rounded
education, according to a study released Tuesday.
The National Board on Educational Testing and Public
Policy at Boston College spent two years soliciting comments for its study,
which it described as the broadest ever on the topic. More than 4,000 teachers
in 47 states responded.....
...... Forty percent of teachers in states with high stakes tests for schools
and students reported that their school's results influenced their teaching on a
daily basis, compared to 10 percent of teachers in low-stakes states. In
general, it said, teachers reported spending less time on areas not tested, such
as fine arts, foreign languages or industrial/vocational education.
''If you get more test preparation ... then an increase
in passage rates doesn't necessarily mean that students are learning more,''
said Joseph Pedulla of the Boston College Lynch School of Education. ''There's
only a fixed amount of time. Something else has to give.'' ......
Boston Herald, 3/5: Instructors: Testing hurts teaching
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/test03052003.htm
A majority of teachers believe state testing programs
lead them to use unsound teaching practices, a nationwide survey of educators
released yesterday shows.
The report, billed as the broadest of its kind, also
revealed that nearly half of all teachers thought test scores could be raised
without really improving learning.
The report, prepared by Boston College's Lynch School of
Education after surveying 12,000 teachers in 47 states, found that educators did
not object to standards but did not like being held to a single test.
`The thing that comes through clearly is teachers are not
opposed to standards or having clear instructions,'' said Joseph Pedulla, a BC
professor involved in the report. ``Where the issue comes to them is putting so
much emphasis on a single test.'' In a related study, researchers compared
high-stakes Massachusetts with no-stakes Kansas and medium-stakes Michigan. They
found that the higher the stakes the greater the impact on classroom teaching.
Laura Barrett, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Teachers
Association, said the study brought educators' voices into the high-stakes
testing debate.
``Most of our members do support state standards . . .
but they think there's too much emphasis on the MCAS results and it crowds out
important subject matter that isn't tested on MCAS,'' she said.......
Boston Globe, 3/5: Teachers' views mixed on testing
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/064/metro/Teachers_views_mixed_on_testing-.shtml
........ A second study examined three states with different levels of tests:
Massachusetts with its high-stakes MCAS, Michigan with a moderate-stakes test,
and Kansas with a low-stakes test.
That study, which involved interviewing roughly 360
teachers, found that Massachusetts high school teachers viewed the MCAS
graduation requirement as demoralizing to students, rather than motivating.
Compared with the other two states, more Massachusetts teachers were likely to
say they taught to the test and that they eliminated certain content not covered
by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. A third of them viewed
that narrowing as having a negative impact on teaching and learning.
But critics of the studies said that focusing on a test's
content is not necessarily bad. ''Usually with a good test, preparation for a
test is academic content,'' said Jay Greene, who has studied high-stakes testing
for the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. ''Maybe the content
teachers used to choose is worse.''
This story ran on page B5 of the Boston
Globe on 3/5/2003.
Amesbury News, 3/7: [Amesbury] schools might defy
MCAS results
http://www.townonline.com/amesbury/news/local_regional/an_newandiplomawar03072003.htm
As more communities decide to defy the state's
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), the School Committee is
considering handing out diplomas to seniors who fail the tests.
"I'm leaning that way," School Committee member Debra
Bibeau said. "I don't think one test should determine the outcome of one's
future."
For the moment, nine Amesbury High School seniors have
not passed either the mathematics or language arts MCAS tests. The Massachusetts
Department of Education (DOE) says these students won't be entitled to diplomas
if they don't make the grade in their fifth and final chance this spring.....
..... The Newburyport School Committee last month voted unanimously to grant
local diplomas to students who haven't met the state requirement, provided they
fulfill "all our own requirements," said Newburyport Board member Mary Anne
Clancy......
Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/5: South Hadley school panel
joins anti-MCAS movement
http://www.gazettenet.com/03052003/schools/3972.htm
SOUTH HADLEY - In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the School
Committee endorsed a resolution that questions the legitimacy of MCAS scores as
the primary criteria to measure educational proficiency.
The resolution also calls for a moratorium on using the
test as a graduation requirement.
"The MCAS is something that can be a useful tool in
regard to raising standards of learning. However, it was never the intention of
the legislature for it to become the sole educational evaluation tool," said
School Committee Chairman Edward Boiselle......
Lawrence Eagle Tribune, 3/4: City may look to override
MCAS
http://www.eagletribune.com/framesets/news.htm
With more than 200 students failing to pass their
last-chance MCAS test, Lawrence school officials are threatening to defy the
state and issue diplomas to all students who satisfy local requirements.
Other districts with significant numbers of failing
students, including Methuen and Haverhill, are not ruling out that option but
are hoping lawsuits against the state-mandated test and appeals on behalf of
individual students will spare them from having to make that choice.....
..... Lawrence School Committee member Suzanne M. Piscitello said that based on
her talks with other board members she believes there's an "80 percent chance"
Lawrence will override the MCAS requirement, although she favors upholding
it.....
Boston Globe, 3/6: Pressured communities threaten to defy
state on MCAS
http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/065/metro/Pressured_communities_threaten_to_defy_state_on_MCAS+.shtml
SPRINGFIELD - A few days after the state announced that
all but 10 percent of seniors have passed the MCAS, some communities with higher
failure rates are facing increasing pressure and say they may defy the state by
giving diplomas to students who don't pass the test.
Firing back, State Education Commissioner David P.
Driscoll - who has said that such so-called ''local diplomas'' are illegal -
said he'll order superintendents to produce a list of every student who receives
a diploma this spring so that the state can verify with its own records that all
of those students passed MCAS. Districts that give diplomas to students without
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System credentials would be ordered to
nullify them, he said....
.... ...Driscoll has said that districts that give diplomas to students who
don't pass MCAS could lose state money or end up in court. He says that such
diplomas do a disservice to students who passed the MCAS as well as those who
didn't. ''They can think their standards were fine, but I have thousands of
young people with families now who are dying in the workplace because they don't
have the skills,'' Driscoll said.
Also yesterday, Driscoll sent memos to superintendents
outlining opportunities for seniors who didn't pass the test, from trying to get
a waiver of the requirement, to finding jobs this summer, to taking MCAS
remediation in community colleges in the fall. In addition, Driscoll said, the
Army and Navy would accept students as long as they commit to earning a diploma
within one year. The other branches of the military require a diploma.
This story ran on
page B3 of the Boston Globe on 3/6/2003.
Quincy Patriot Ledger, 3/4:
Schools fearful of MCAS dropouts: 350 local teens remain
ineligible for graduation
Some high school seniors have already dropped out
of school because they feared they would never pass the MCAS exam. Now school
officials are trying to hold on to the 6,058 students who just found out they
failed the test again and cannot graduate in June. .......
.......Local school officials who are consoling more than
350 angry, discouraged teenagers who failed are worried the students will bail
out of school.
''There was an anxiety level among those kids who failed
that we haven't seen before,'' said Bob O'Day, principal of Plymouth South High
School, where 11 seniors are failing.
At Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, one student has
already transferred to a night school where she is not required to pass the MCAS
to get a diploma.
''We're just trying to save as many kids as possible,''
said Pam Gould, assistant principal at Whitman-Hanson. ''Their failure is our
failure. We're feeling the same hurt they're feeling. But we're not giving up on
them, and we don't want them to give up.''
Bernie DuPuis, head counselor at Marshfield High School,
said about a dozen seniors have dropped out since last fall. They were all
struggling with the MCAS test, and although many were also having trouble in
their classes, there were a couple who were doing well in school, but were
discouraged enough by the test to quit.
''A couple students were making satisfactory progress in
school, but said, 'What good does it do to work hard if I'm not going to get a
diploma anyway because of the MCAS, so forget it. I'll drop out,''' DuPuis said.
''These kids have felt discouraged since sophomore year when they failed the
test the first time.'' ......
......In many cases, school officials say the students who are being denied
diplomas because of the MCAS are otherwise qualified to graduate. Of the 20
seniors at Randolph High who have failed the test, ''A couple are shaky, but
even those students are probably in line to graduate,'' [Randolph High Asst.
Principal Bob] Johnson said. ....
''We have strict graduation requirements, and these kids
have met those requirements,'' DuPuis said of the 10 seniors at Marshfield High
who have not passed. ''Some kids just have a real difficult time with this type
of test.''
With 4,300 seniors passing the December retest, 90
percent of the 60,000 seniors statewide are eligible to graduate. ......
..... A last hope for seniors may come in a lawsuit
challenging the MCAS requirement. Plaintiffs' lawyers two weeks ago asked a
Suffolk Superior Court judge for a preliminary injunction to prohibit
enforcement of the requirement. A hearing has not yet been scheduled.....
Springfield Union-News, 3/5: Class Day rites proposed for
all;
The proposal would allow most students,
regardless of MCAS test results, to attend the prom and participate in the
graduation ceremony and Class Day
http://www.masslive.com/holyoke/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1046853210242230.xml
HOLYOKE - School Committee member Michael J. Moriarty
wants to make sure that students who have not passed the MCAS test, but who have
fulfilled all other graduation requirements get to participate in senior week
activities.
Moriarty's proposal, made to the committee Monday night,
would require those students to receive tutoring and take retests of the
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test to participate. The proposal
was referred to the committee's Curriculum and Instruction Subcommittee for
review. ...
....... Moriarty said he got the idea to allow students to participate from
Springfield School Committee member Kenneth E. Shea, who made the same
suggestion for Springfield where there are 337 who have not passed the MCAS
test.
"We want to make it clear we don't want to penalize these
kids by denying them senior week activities. I don't think that's the purpose of
MCAS," Moriarty said.
Kevin J. Hart, Dean Technical High School principal, said
that he and Holyoke High School Principal Mary Ellen O'Connor support the idea
of letting kids participate in senior activities, as long as they continue
trying to pass the test. ....
.... "Most of our students are making an honest effort to pass all their
classes, to behave in school and be good citizens," Hart said.
"Some may never be able to pass the MCAS. They don't have
the academic skills, but they meet all the district requirements. Some are very
successful in their career areas. I think it would be wrong to deny them the
pleasure of participating in senior activities," Hart said.
Senior activities at both schools include the prom, trips
and Class Day where the class will is read, the "class celebrities" are
announced and scholarships and awards are given out.
Springfield Union News, 3/6: [Sp'field Supt.] Burke to
offer graduation plan
http://www.masslive.com/springfield/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1047026090322710.xml
SPRINGFIELD - Superintendent Joseph P. Burke has
drafted a plan to enable most high school seniors to participate in graduation
ceremonies with or without passing scores on Massachusetts Comprehensive
Assessment System tests.
But Burke's plan will stop short of issuing full diplomas
to students without MCAS success, despite a call to do so this week by Mayor
Michael J. Albano and Springfield Education Association Timothy T. Collins. "I
totally obey supporting the law. I think we can come up with something
meaningful for the kids that doesn't break the law," Burke said. ......
.......Subcommittee Chairman Beth A. Conway said she is open to discussing ways
to help the 337 seniors who have yet to pass the English and mathematics tests.
They represent 30 percent of the 1,132 members of the class, which has dropped
considerably since they were ninth-graders.
This year's graduating class entered high school in the
fall of 1999 with 2,351 students. The current enrollment is a drop of 52
percent. .......
........ Burke said he will advocate
for certificates for the seniors who have yet to pass both MCAS tests but have
met all other requirements for high school. Conway agrees, though she wants the
rules to be specific so that students who have poor attendance, effort and
grades will not get the idea they will be graduating. .....
Boston Globe, 3/5: School districts criticize test
tally
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/064/metro/School_districts_criticize_test_tally-.shtml
The state Department of Education faced a backlash of
complaints yesterday from several Massachusetts school superintendents, who
criticized officials for using outdated enrollment figures that failed to
accurately reflect the percentage of students passing the MCAS graduation
requirement.
The percentages are crucial not only for recordkeeping,
but also for pride: Realtors boast about towns' MCAS passing rates to
prospective homeowners, parents use them to determine which community to move
to, and the percentages get ranked and tracked closely......
..... School districts statewide take a head count every Oct. 1 and spend
several months checking for errors. The department then uses that October
enrollment figure against the most recent number who passed the test to
calculate the percentage of students passing.
Problems arise, however, when enrollments change -- as
they almost always do -- between Oct. 1 and the time test results are released.
Heidi B. Perlman, spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said the state
cannot ask districts for more up-to-date enrollment counts because that would
involve contacting 372 school systems and requiring them to check their numbers,
a time-consuming process.
''It is virtually impossible for us to update our
enrollment files for every single district every time enrollments change,''
Perlman said. ''Districts should definitely let us know if their numbers are
different. At the end of the year, when we put together our final report on the
class of 2003, those numbers will definitely be reflected.'' .....
This story ran on
page B1 of the Boston Globe on 3/5/2003.
Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise, 3/7: Area
schools dispute MCAS pass/fail rate
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4992~1227648,00.html
..... At Fitchburg High School, the state reported that
only 74 percent of its seniors had passed both the English and math components
of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.
"That number should be closer to 93 percent," said
Fitchburg Schools Superintendent Thomas Lamey. "That 74 percent number is a
little misleading."
The problem, according to both Lamey and Department of
Education spokeswoman Heidi Perlman, has to do with discrepancies in school
enrollment figures.
State officials said Fitchburg High has 306 seniors, 226
of whom have passed both the English and math MCAS exams.
But Lamey said 62 of those students are enrolled in an
evening general equivalency degree program at Memorial Intermediate School, and
are not required to take the exam to earn their GEDs.
The evening alternative school serves students from many
area school districts, said Fitchburg School Committee Vice Chairman Glenn
Capone.
Because they technically "transfer" to the GED program
through the School Choice program, they are not counted as drop-outs in their
home districts.
However, if they leave the program, they count as
drop-outs for Fitchburg....
Boston Herald, 3/5: School officials vow to help kids who
didn't pass MCAS
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/mcas03052003.htm
...... A day after announcing 9 out of 10 Bay State seniors have
passed the test and will graduate on time, education officials vowed to help
Rodriguez and the 6,057 others who have failed.
``We're just not going to give up,'' Education
Commissioner David P. Driscoll said. ``We'll offer special tests, we've got to
think about centers where we can give the MCAS tests for kids who aren't in
school. There are a lot of details that need to get worked out.''....
...... Even though they may not have earned a diploma, kids who stick with the
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System will have good job prospects, said
PIC's executive director Neil Sullivan.
``When it comes to a good job, persistence matters, and
these young men and women have persevered in the face of multiple failures,'' he
said. ``That makes them excellent prospects for employment even when the
students have not succeeded on the test.''........
Boston Globe, 3/3: Many find success on MCAS retest
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/062/metro/Many_find_success_on_last_try_at_MCAS-.shtml
.....Advocates of the MCAS requirement, such as Driscoll, say it has helped
raise standards in districts that once gave diplomas with little meaning and
boosted the education of some of the state's most vulnerable students - such as
low-income students, minorities, and non-English speakers.
Opponents argue the requirement hurts most the students
education reform was designed to help, and point to groups that are
overrepresented among those who fail the test. They say it's unfair to use one
test as a bar to graduation and assert that the exam has driven some students to
drop out of school.....
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston
Globe on 3/3/2003.
New Bedford Standard-Times, 3/4: MCAS persistence pays off
http://www.s-t.com/daily/03-03/03-04-03/a01lo006.htm
New Bedford High School senior Jennifer Melo, 17, has a
message for those who haven't yet passed MCAS: Hang in there, because she did it
and so can they. She says the exhilaration of making the grade is "awesome," and
she's making plans for a career in nursing.
Her classmate David Rodrigues, 17, also cleared the bar
after repeated tries. "It's about time," he sighed. Now he can get on with his
ambition of becoming a sports broadcaster.
The two, both helped by special tutoring, are among 59
NBHS students of 594 in the class of 2003 who made a passing grade on the
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests on their fourth attempt.
School officials hold them up as examples of what can happen when a school
system joins with dedicated students and involved parents to meet a requirement
that some of them thought was impossible.....
...... New Bedford Superintendent Michael E. Longo met yesterday with High
School Headmaster Joseph Oliver and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Ronald Souza to
review the breakdown of the latest numbers.
They were upbeat about what head MCAS facilitator Steve
Pereira showed them: 85 percent of the class of 2003 has now qualified for a
diploma under MCAS guidelines. School officials predicted that once the schools
apply for waivers, more than 90 percent of the class will ring the bell in time
to collect a diploma in June.
At an 85 percent pass rate for 594 students, New Bedford
is ahead of the statewide urban average of 79 percent. (The state reported New
Bedford at 82 percent, but because of transfers, dropouts, and other changes,
there are 43 fewer students now than in October 2002, the figure the state
uses)......
Lowell Sun, 3/4: 'Steady gains' on MCAS; But 6,000
students in state still won't receive diploma
http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105%7E4746%7E1220061,00.html
LOWELL Across the state, the release of the MCAS retest
results yesterday and their dramatic gains nearly across the board was greeted
with applause and congratulations.
But still weighing heavily on the minds of school
officials' were those high school seniors, now fewer in number, who have yet to
pass the test.
After the December retest, 90 percent of seniors
statewide 60,472 students had passed both portions of the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System test, up from 81 percent after the last
exam......
.... The 6,058 students who have yet to pass the test are eligible to
participate in remediation programs, and some have access to tutoring. If they
don't pass the May retest, the state has pledged funds for summer remediation
programs and another retest in August. For those who still don't pass, the
Romney administration has pledged $3 million to establish an MCAS remediation
program at the state's 11 community colleges.
Schools now will begin the task of preparing students for
the May retest and putting together applications for alternate certification.
Students who meet certain standards including good attendance, grades comparable
with those who passed the test, and scores within four points of passing are
eligible for the certificate of attainment.
But the only way to get a high school diploma is by
passing the MCAS....
..... Overall, the suburbs had higher passing rates than the urban centers,
with 94 percent of students in suburban districts earning their competency
determination compared to 79 percent in urban areas.
At yesterday's press conference, Education Commissioner
David Driscoll noted the "unfortunate gap" that remains between white and
minority students, urban and suburban students, poorer and wealthier students.
While 90 percent of seniors statewide passed the MCAS, only 70 percent of
Hispanic students and 75 percent of African-American students in the class of
2003 passed.
Siglo21: 3/5: En examenes MCAS, continua brecha racial
entre blancos y minorias
http://www.periodicosiglo21.com/portada/index.htm
Mientras cerca del 90 porciento de los estudiantes en
todo el Estado pasaron las pruebas del Sistema de Evaluación General de
Massachusetts (MCAS), en ciudades como Lawrence compuestas principalmente por
hispanos y otras minorías, poco más del 50 porciento aprobaron las mismas,
abriéndose así cada vez más la brecha de oportunidades educativas entre los
blancos y las minorías.
A pesar del evidente fracaso del las pruebas en esas
comunidades, comenzando el próximo semestre cada estudiante deberá pasar las
secciones de inglés y matemática del décimo grado de los MCAS para obtener su
diploma de escuela superior de acuerdo a las nuevas leyes estatales que rigen el
sistema educativo, obstáculo que no deberá ser un mayor problema para los
estudiantes que asisten a escuelas donde las comunidades son mayoritariamente
blancas, según se desprende de los resultados de los más recientes exámenes
suministrados a través del Estado.
Por ejemplo, todos los estudiantes de Andover y North
Andover, menos uno, y 21 "seniors" en Methuen pasaron las pruebas del 2003, en
contraste con solo el 56 % de los "seniors"de la escuela superior de Lawrence
que obtuvieron resultados aceptables......
.... La semana pasada oponentes al requisito de los MCAS amenazaron con
continuar sus protestas y ya hay señales de una ardiente batalla. El alcalde de
Springfield, Michael J. Albano, ha dado el mejor ejemplo de lucha como oficial
electo. Albano apoya lo que se conoce como "diplomas locales". "Nuestro Comité
Escolar considerará otorgar diplomas locales a estudiantes que desaprobaron los
MCAS pero han cumplido con otros requisitos," anunció el alcalde.......
Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/4: At local schools, 97% of
seniors pass MCAS
http://www.gazettenet.com/03042003/schools/3958.htm
Tuesday, March 4, 2003 -- The
results of the final MCAS retest before graduation for the class of 2003 are in:
locally, 1,515 high school seniors have passed the exam, while 45 failed, and
likely won't get a diploma in June.
That means 97 percent of the seniors in area public high
schools have passed the test the state now requires for a high school diploma,
and 2.9 percent have failed.....
.... Most of the students in the area who have not passed the test attend
Amherst Regional High School. A total of 22 seniors out of 309 have failed one
or both sections of the MCAS exam, said William Wehrli, co-principal of the high
school....
.... Wehrli acknowledged Monday that the number of students who failed is higher
in Amherst than in other communities, but attributed it mainly to the fact that
the student body is several times larger than the high schools in other
districts.
Springfield Union-News, 3/3: Test: Stakes high for
borderline students
http://www.masslive.com/living/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1046680223193370.xml
SPRINGFIELD - For Melissa Martinez and Gloria I. Mendoza
there were tears of sadness and tears of joy.
Words weren't coming easily for Martinez in the hours
after she learned Friday she failed her fourth try at the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System tests.
They weren't coming easy for Mendoza either, who was
overcome with emotion at the news that she passed the test.
Martinez, a senior at Roger L. Putnam Vocational
Technical High School, chalked up scores within two points of passing, not quite
enough to graduate with her class. Hope is fading for the 18-year-old, who has
dreams of going to college.
"I just don't know what to think anymore. I'm so close,
but I can't seem to pass," she said, her voice close to a whisper and her eyes
cast downward. .....
...... One girl, Candace N. Arnold, cried as she described her efforts to pass
both the English and the mathematics tests. Family issues have left her
ineligible for an appeal due to her attendance, but she has always kept up with
her school work and earns good grades.
"It's unbelievably unfair. How am I going to tell my
grandmother," she said, wiping tears from her eyes with a tissue. .....
.... Mendoza, for one, finally passed the mathematics test she needed to
graduate. She scored an even 220 and was fine with that.
"Right on the dot," said the Central senior, smiling
broadly.
"When I found out, I started crying. I called home and my
mom and dad were listening in together and I was crying. I could hardly talk,"
said the 17-year-old.
"I feel like I won the lottery," she said, breaking into
a laugh. ......
Boston Herald, 3/3: It's D-day for seniors who took the
MCAS retest
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/mcas03032003.htm
.... The latest exam is the fourth chance seniors have been given to pass the
exam since first taking it as sophomores. Those who failed can take it again in
May and yet again in August, although the results will be too late for those
seniors to receive their diplomas with their class. ...
...... ``I'm optimistic,'' said Worcester School Committee
member Ogretta V. McNeil. ``It's unrealistic to think everyone will pass because
that's not going to happen, but I think we've worked really hard at helping the
kids who needed to pass.''
As graduation looms, anti-MCAS advocates promise to rally
around the kids who have yet to pass the high-stakes test. Somerville school
officials are ``adamantly opposed to MCAS,'' School Committee chairwoman Mary Jo
Rossetti said.
``This is just a distraction to our staff and our
curriculum,'' she said.....
Metrowest Daily News, 3/2: Seniors clear final hurdle
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/HiasysTools/PrinterFriendly.bg/www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/mcas03022003.htm
All but a relative handful of area high school seniors
passed their last-chance MCAS before spring graduation, according to school
officials interviewed this past week.....
Eagle Tribune, 3/1: Lawrence struggles on MCAS
http://www.eagletribune.com/
..... Students at Lawrence High were told their results late this week.
"There was ecstasy on the faces of some students," said Lawrence High School
Principal Thomas D. Sharkey. "Other students are getting the bad news and are
devastated."....
Boston Globe, Op-ed by Eileen McNamara, 3/5: These
results test fairness
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/064/metro/These_results_test_fairness-.shtml
...... Only in Alice's Wonderland could sense be made of the praise being
lavished this week on an educational assessment that has deemed every last high
school senior in tony Manchester-by-the-Sea a success and 44 percent of the
class of 2003 in gritty Lawrence a failure.
If anything, the results of the latest Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System test confirm what thoughtful educators have
argued all along: MCAS is a valuable diagnostic tool; but, until educational
resources in Lawrence approximate those in Manchester, how can it be considered
a fair or valid predictor of a child's future success?
The politics of the moment preclude any chance that state
officials will voluntarily abandon their use of a high-stakes test as a
graduation requirement, even though their intransigence means denying a
disproportionate number of minority, immigrant, and learning-disabled children
the chance to prove them wrong. What but politics could explain such stubborn
adherence to a requirement that colleges themselves have deemed meaningless?
Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll has denounced those institutions of
higher learning that have indicated a willingness to accept otherwise promising
students who fail to pass the MCAS test.
What but hubris could motivate public officials to place
further obstacles in the path of low-income students seeking a higher education?
At the state's urging, the federal government has vowed to withhold financial
aid from any student who gains college admission without first passing the
vaunted test.
What comparable punitive action do state officials plan
to take against the Brookline High School students who won early admission to
Dartmouth College and Clark University, despite their boycott of the MCAS test?
.....
..... It is only the poor who are held hostage to the state's belief that it
knows best. The underlying assumption of Governor Mitt Romney's plan to tie
state college curriculums to the needs of regional employers is that the
students of limited income who attend those schools need a job, any job, more
than they need exposure to a broad liberal arts education. No need for these
students to uncover a passion for Shakespeare or a gift for creative writing. No
need for them to harbor dreams of finding their future beyond Framingham or
Fitchburg or Westfield. ......
This story ran on
page B1 of the Boston Globe on 3/5/2003.
Siglo21: 3/5: MCAS: Rewarding the educational
haves, punishing the have-nots
http://www.periodicosiglo21.com/english/p20b.htm
The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, MCAS,
has been touted as the means to end schooling's inequities. Policy makers
claimed test scores would highlight the districts where educational needs were
greatest. Inequalities would be addressed.
Still, even in the early rounds of testing, some worried
about more sinister outcomes.
"As a state, we are treading on the brink of a crisis
that threatens to move our children into two separate and unequal school
populations," Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly wrote in 1999. He
added, "Each new round of test results - however we interpret the statistics -
emphasizes the danger that many of our school children from predominantly
minority families and families in urban areas will be denied an education and so
lose out on uncountable opportunities."
The spectre of two separate and unequal school
populations with separate and unequal futures is now a reality. This year,
Massachusetts is poised to deny deserving students a diploma. These students
are disproportionately Latino and African American.
Latino seniors, 30% of whom have not passed MCAS, will be
denied a diploma at five times the rate of white students. African American
students, 25% of whom have not passed, will be denied a diploma at four times
the rate of white students. One out of every three seniors whose first language
is not English and nearly a third of student with disabilities will go without a
diploma......
..... Like the South of the 1950s, Massachusetts has embraced a system that
rewards the "haves" and punishes the "have-nots." The gulf that separates those
with access to opportunity and those without is becoming wider. To close the
opportunity gap, the legislature must vote to eliminate the MCAS graduation
requirement. Not to do so is to betray our commitment to equal opportunity and
leave more and more of our most vulnerable young people further behind.
Boston Sunday Globe Magazine, 3/2: Testing times;
In this era of MCAS and other high-stakes school tests, the fate
of your child is increasingly in the hands of the industry that designs,
produces, and grades them.
http://www.boston.com/globe/magazine/2003/0302/coverstory_entire.htm
.....Harcourt now sells custom products to 49 of the 50 states, and, over the
past decade, the customized tests have been where the money is. In the first
nine months of 2000, Harcourt's profits increased 38 percent, making the company
so attractive that, in July 2001, it was sold for $4.45 billion to Reed
Elsevier, a massive Dutch information technology conglomerate that bought
Newton-based Cahners Publishing, among its other properties. It is through its
customized tests that Harcourt gets involved in the various disputes in the
various states about high-stakes testing. .....
..... Last year, NCS Pearson - with which Harcourt shares a subcontracting
agreement on some jobs - was forced into a substantial settlement when a scoring
error on a statewide mathematics test resulted in erroneous results being sent
to 47,000 Minnesota high school students, 8,000 of whom were incorrectly told
that they had failed. A judge ruled that NCS had let quality standards lapse
partly to cut costs.
"At first, the company argued that it should be liable
only for damages done to the students," explains Walt Haney, a professor of
education at Boston College and a vigorous critic of test-based education. "But
[the lawyers for the students] found evidence that NCS, in order to boost
profits, had been cutting corners, had no quality control in place, and had made
six or seven errors in other states. And the only reason we found out about it
was because this one kid's parents wouldn't let it go." ......
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