My name is Larry Ward. I am speaking for the National Center for Fair & Open
Testing (FairTest), located in Cambridge. I am also a member of the
Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education (CARE) and a parent of three
children in the Cambridge Public Schools (2 of whom have boycotted the
tests.)

I am here to support S. 255, legislation to replace the current MCAS tests
with an authentic assessment and accountability system. There are two
fundamental reasons to replace the MCAS: first, the overemphasis on tests
hurts, not helps, both children and school improvement; second, there are
better means of assessment and accountability that the state should adopt.
Working at FairTest, I have had the opportunity to review research about the
educational damage done by over reliance on tests such as the MCAS:

- Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
indicate that states which have more tests and high school exit exams are
less likely to make progress than are states which have fewer tests and no
high school exit exams.

- States with the highest stakes tests have the highest dropout rates.
Already, we are seeing the dropout rate increase in Massachusetts' urban
districts in the wake of MCAS. Also, high-stakes tests encourage schools to
retain more students in grade, a policy which produces no educational
benefits and leads to more dropouts.

- Tests narrow and limit the curriculum. Teachers are pressured to drop
effective practices that lead to long-term learning gains and replace them
with short-term test preparation that fails to have lasting positive effects
and turns students off to learning.

- Standardized tests provide too little information about any specific area
within a subject to be of much classroom use. Educators need detailed
information that they can only get by using good assessment practices in
their classrooms. Tests tend to crowd out those better practices.

-- High stakes testing produces cultures of threats and fear for teachers
and students which undermine efforts to create environments which support
learning.

The legislation to replace the MCAS would put the emphasis where it belongs
and where real education should happen - in the school and in the classroom.
The plan is based on three key beliefs:

1) local schools know their students best;

2) the state's job is not to make decisions about individuals but to ensure
that schools are educating all children well and to provide the necessary
resources to enable schools to do so; and

3) an accountability system should bring out the best in people, encourage
steady improvement in learning that really matters, and provide useful
information to educators, parents and the community.

S. 255 outlines a system that will meet these three criteria by focusing on
local authentic assessments, regular school quality reviews, limited,
low-stakes testing, and mechanisms for all involved parties to participate
in the improvement process.

FairTest would be happy to provide you with more detailed information about
any of the points I have made today. I have attached a copy of the CARE
proposal to the written copy of my testimony.

Thank you.