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Falmouth School Committee
Resolution in 2nd paragraph of
press release.
Falmouth Public Schools
340 Teaticket Highway, East Falmouth, MA 02536
508-548-0151 Fax: 508-457-9032
On Tuesday, July 9, 2002 the
Falmouth School Committee voted 6 to 2 to endorse the following position
relative to the impact of the "high stakes" MCAS on the issuing of diplomas to
the graduating classes of 2003 and beyond:
The Falmouth School Committee
believes that a Falmouth High School diploma should be granted to all those who
meet local accountability expectations for graduation. The diploma should be
differentiated to recognize achievement beyond the local expectations (such as
the National Honor Society, the National Art Honor Society, and the Tri-M
National Music Honor Society) and the achievement of state competency
requirements.
This position asserts the right
of the Committee to grant diplomas to students who do not pass MCAS as well as
those who do.
The Committee recognizes that
its position is in violation of the views of the Department of Education that
local school committees do not have the right to give a diploma signifying
graduation unless students have met the state competency determination by
passing the English language arts and math portions of the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System.
Those voting in favor were
Chairman Tom Kirkman, Susan Augusta, Judy Fenwick, DeWitt Jones, Jamie
MacDonald, and Pam Vidal. Those opposed were Joseph Ferreira and Vice Chairman
Sam Patterson. Peter Kirwin was absent, but he had informally expressed support
for the position of the majority.
In its discussion, the Committee
supported the position of school administrators, Superintendent Peter Clark, and
Falmouth High School Principal Paul Cali, that the local accountability
expectations should include definitions of "good faith efforts" by students to
pass the MCAS. While the final conditions have to be worked out, all the school
committee members supported higher standards and the positive motivations of
accountability. The suggested guidelines are that good faith efforts include
conscientious work to pass the tenth grade test, to take advantage of remedial
tutoring, and to attempt one retest.
Those voting in favor felt they
were supporting the major intentions of education reform by the differentiation
of the diploma and by insistence on a good faith effort to pass MCAS. At the
same time they maintained local autonomy to provide a diploma to students who
have not passed the single MCAS measuring process despite a good faith effort,
if they have met all local expectations.
The vote to adopt that position
came after a 4 to 4 deadlock on a more extreme
position that stated: "The Falmouth School Committee believes that a unified
Falmouth High School diploma should be presented to all students who meet local
accountability expectations. Those local expectations should not require meeting
a state competency determination by passage of the MCAS." This position, which
more strongly opposes the legitimacy of the high stakes impact of MCAS, has been
advocated by groups opposing the use of a single test; it is similar to
positions taken by the Cambridge and Hampshire School Committees.
A second policy was passed
unanimously to accompany the position on the granting of diplomas. It states,
"The state competency status of individual students shall not be made public by
the school system." In part this policy statement was designed to remove from
such public ceremonies as graduation, either by the statement in the program or
in other ways, that students had achieved or not achieved the competency
determination. This distinction would be only stated on the individual diplomas.
This position aligns with an earlier school committee vote to object to the
state proposal to place MCAS results on student transcripts as a student records
requirement.
Because of the majority vote on
the position to grant differentiated diplomas, the School Committee did not take
a vote on a third position, which had been discussed in March: "The Falmouth
School Committee will develop an appropriate document other than a formal
diploma to recognize students who have met local accountability expectations but
have not achieved the state-mandated competency determination or other national
standards."
Another recommendation of the
Policy Subcommittee, although not formally adopted by vote of the school
committee on July 9, is that the definition of the meaning of local
accountability expectations should be created only with the full participation
of the school administration and faculty. The Policy Subcommittee also
discussed, but deferred to discussion by professional educators, the issue of
whether a limited number of students, because of severe disability or similar
disadvantage beyond their control, should be exempted from any requirement to
pass the MCAS.
Superintendent Clark alluded to
two prior letters that have been sent to state organizations and to the
Department of Education by the Falmouth School Committee. In those letters the
Committee endorsed the move toward higher standards and the use of a high stakes
accountability system for students but also raised significant concerns about
the inflexibility of state standards, assessments, and diploma consequences. The
Board of Education, through Commissioner Driscoll, specifically responded to the
second letter by maintaining its positions and rejecting the committee's stated
concerns.
Dr. Peter L. Clark,
Superintendent |
