Parents, teachers and students
working for
quality and equity in public education!
Massachusetts Coalition for
Authentic Reform in Education
342 Broadway, Cambridge MA 02139
617-864-4810 Fax 617-497-2224
Governor Patrick taps MassCARE Vice-Chair Ruth Kaplan for Board Of Education
BOSTON-Thursday, June 7, 2007--Governor Deval Patrick today named Brookline resident Ruth Kaplan as the PTA representative to the Board of Education, the governor's first appointment to the board.
An attorney and strong advocate for public education, Kaplan brings to the board significant experience as an educational leader, advocate, and community organizer. She has served as a member of the Brookline School Committee since 2003 and was the co-founder and chair of an education advocacy group dedicated to promoting school accountability based on multiple assessments and increased educational funding.
"Ruth is just the person we need on board as we strive to provide our children with the best educational opportunities available to compete with their peers from around the world," Governor Patrick said. "Her leadership and experience in the local schools will be highly valuable to the Commonwealth."
The High Stakes in Science Education: Risking the Roots of American Productivity
By Jonathan King
Education Week
Published Online: May 7, 2007
Published in print: May 9, 2007
Commentary
In his 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush created a buzz by calling for new initiatives in science and technology education: "Tonight I announce an American Competitiveness Initiative, to encourage innovation throughout our economy, and to give our nation’s children a firm grounding in math and science." The plans later unveiled by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings contained some positive initiatives. Subsequent budget appropriations, however, have had almost no funds for increasing students’ encounters with authentic scientific and engineering processes. The National Science Foundation’s
Math and Science Partnership Program, for example, was slashed in the fiscal year 2008 request by nearly 30 percent, from $63 million to $46 million.
SCIENTISTS URGE
BOARD OF EDUCATION TO VOTE AGAINST SCIENCE MCAS AS GRADUATION
REQUIREMENT
With a rallying cry of "Deeper Science
Education, Not More MCAS tests," a group of scientists and science
educators will release a statement Thursday urging the Massachusetts
Board of Education to vote against imposing science and technology
MCAS exams as graduation requirements. The statement will be presented
at a press conference on May 26, at 10 a.m. at the State House, Room
222.
The group, including science professors
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University,
education professors, secondary science teachers and developers of
science curricula, will address what they believe is necessary to
prepare students for further study and practice in science. They will
describe how a science graduation requirement test will undermine the
goal of better science education in Massachusetts public schools.
Speakers will include: Prof. Jonathan King, MIT Biology Department;
Prof. George Hein, Lesley University; Prof. Eugene Gallagher, UMass
Boston Dept. of Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences; and Monty
Neill, Co-Director, National Center for Fair & Open Testing, Inc.
WHAT: Statement urging the
Massachusetts Board of Education not to impose science and technology
MCAS graduation exams
WHEN: Thursday, May 26, 10 a.m.
WHERE: State House, Room 222
SPONSORS: Massachusetts
Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education (MassCARE Inc.); Alliance
for High Standards, NOT High Stakes; Citizens for Public Schools.
In response to education
policy proposals presented to legislators by MassInsight, state
business representatives and their allies, a coalition of state
organizations together with ParentsCARE! called on lawmakers to
listen and respond to a broader range of views on how to proceed with
education reform.
"As members of the
Alliance for High Standards NOT High Stakes, a coalition of more than
50 organizations opposed to the use of MCAS as a graduation
requirement, and the Parents Coalition for Authentic Reform in
Education (ParentsCARE), a parents' group, we are deeply concerned
about 'closed door' education policy presentations by members of the
business community," said Ruth Kaplan, Alliance chair and member of
the Brookline School Committee. "We encourage legislators to quickly
follow up such a one-sided presentation by seeking public input from
important constituencies including public school parents, students and
teachers," said Marilyn Segal, Director of Citizens for Public
Schools.
The Alliance and
ParentsCARE are concerned that more than a decade after the Education
Reform Act of 1993 was passed in response to educational equity
concerns, Massachusetts faces a persistent race-based achievement gap
and districts are still failing to fulfill their constitutional
obligation to provide an adequate education, according to Superior
Court Judge Margot Botsford. We conclude that the overwhelming
emphasis on MCAS has not been a healthy or effective method for
addressing educational inequity
Business leaders cite a
96 percent MCAS passing rate as a signal that it's time to move on,
raise standards and lift up persistently failing schools. As Professor
Gerald Bracey of George Mason University writes, however, the 96
percent figure is an example of "lying with statistics." It fails to
acknowledge the many students, mostly minority and low-income, who
dropped out of school, were retained in grade, or switched to GED
programs because they were tired of repeatedly failing the MCAS or too
discouraged to try again. When all students who started out in 9th
grade are considered, Massachusetts' graduation rate falls to 71
percent. It is lower still for poor, black and Hispanic youth. One in
three Hispanic students and one in four African Americans did not
reach the 10th grade to take the latest MCAS exam.
The groups believe that
rather than use the pending state Supreme Court decision on school
funding as an excuse to raise the cutoff scores on the MCAS, the state
should declare a moratorium on the graduation test until all schools
have been adequately funded for a sufficient time to enable all
students to attain high levels of achievement.
read more here.
Annual Meeting of Parents CARE forges agenda for coming year
Coping with the first serious snowfall of
the season, 50 hardy parents, teachers and friends of public education
participated in the Parents CARE 2004 Annual Meeting on Saturday
November 13 "Enhancing and Maintaining Public Education In Difficult
Times". We received cogent briefings on the new burdens on our public
schools from the MCAS tests, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and
limitations on needed financial investments. These provided a context
for four Working groups to identify issues needing attention in the
coming year. New efforts to monitor science education and school
athletics programs were initiated.
read more here.
Learn how the "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" Act is "FAILING OUR CHILDREN" New report explains damaging consequences for
parents, teachers and school administrators:
The first two years of implementation of the controversial "No
Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law have damaged education quality and equity.
This follows from the law's incorrect assumptions and arbitrary
requirements, according to a 170-page report from FairTest, the National
Center for Fair & Open Testing. In addition to explaining NCLB, "Failing
Our Children " will help you understand the effect of the NCLB on your
community. The report offers a different approach to assessment and
accountability that would better promote needed school reforms.
read more here.
It’s time to emphasize learning, not testing.
It’s time for MCAS Reform.
A coalition of educators, parents, public officials and concerned citizens have joined together and filed H. 561, a bill to ensure that every Massachusetts public school student who meets the state’s standards has the opportunity to graduate from high school.
Massachusetts Board of Ed Fogs True Drop-Out Count
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MCAS in the News
The latest news stories on the impact of MCAS, and other education issues.
Chapter
Contacts
Find the nearest CARE chapter or start your own. Link up with other concerned
parents in your community.
Special Education Issues
Contact your state legislators and tell them you want them to override the
Governor's veto of a measure that would add fairness for
special needs students to the MCAS appeals process.
Voices of the People
See what people like you are saying in public about the MCAS and its effect on
our children
Diploma Granting Campaign
More than 5000 students did not graduate in June despite a heroic
attempt by a number of school boards that would have granted diplomas to
deserving seniors regardless of their MCAS scores.
Massachusetts tragedy: More than 5,000
seniors denied diplomas The high-stakes MCAS test prevented thousands
of high school seniors from graduating this June. Despite four years of
intensive campaigns by parents, teachers, students, and school committee
members calling for suspension of the MCAS graduation requirement, state
officials have turned a deaf ear but the battle is far from over...
read more here.
Brookline CARE Forum describe how implementing NCLB will undermine
public education and split communities At a forum attended by nearly 200 concerned parents and teachers, panelists described in precise detail how implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) of 2002, the "No Child Left Behind Act," would lead to quality public schools being reported as "failing", disruption of local school systems, and school constituencies pitted against each other.
read more here.
Mass Parents and Teachers Join National Campaign to Fully Fund Public
Schools
As part of the National Mobilization for Great Public Schools, more than
40 Education First! house parties were hosted by Massachusetts parents
and teachers across the Commonwealth on Sept 22. ParentsCARE! is one of
the sponsoring organizations. Massachusetts house parties were held in
Bedford, Boston, Brockton, Cambridge, Charlton, Jamaica Plain, East
Freetown, Everett, Foxboro, Hudson, Nantucket, Newburyport, North Adams,
Pittsfield, Randolph, Reading, Roxbury, Somerville, Southborough, South
Dennis, Springfield, Turner's Falls, Vineyard Haven, and Worcester,
The Massachusetts events were among the almost 4,000 House Parties for
Great Public Schools held across the country with over 50,000 people in
attendance. They represent growing concern over the current
administration's cuts in education spending, the unrealistic
requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), increasing costs of
college education, and failure to upgrade and invest in school buildings
and facilities. [You can sign the petition at this website!]
read more here.
Student Learns Hard MCAS
Lesson When Gov. Romney visited
Murdock Middle High School in December, Kimberly Thurlow, now 18,
stepped forward and introduced him to a severely disabled boy she was
tutoring. She asked Gov. Romney: How could this boy pass MCAS? read more here.
MCAS tests again Once again our children - in grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10
- are about to be abused by having to take the high stakes MCAS tests.
Over the past four years parents, teachers and professional educators
have documented the damage to students, teachers, and curriculum that
follows from the imposition of this one-size fits-all test. MassCARE and
others have documented the negative effects of this test on students and
their schools. We have rallied, petitioned, lobbied the legislature,
boycotted, and initiated court proceedings. However, through all this
the 9 member State Board of Education, originally appointed by Governors
Weld and John Silber, continue to undermine public education,
unperturbed, by the thousands of high school seniors who have been
denied diplomas and have been forced to put their lives on hold, attend
classes on MCAS prep or simply move on in life without a high school
diploma. This board has ignored the thousands of parents who petitioned
in opposition to the test, refused to listen to the testimony of
teachers and educators who oppose the test and have dismissed the
resolutions of the Mass Association of School Committees who have
condemned the test. read more here.
