- As predicted, the MA Board of Education says districts can give "certificates of attainment" to students who finish their senior year without passing MCAS - although the Commissioner is disappointed that the state will fall short of a three-tiered exit system.  (More on this next week.)
- At the same time, some people are trying to figure out what will happen to thousands of students who may not get a diploma:  The state's Board of Higher Ed considers alternative ways of enrolling diploma-less students in community colleges - and Supt. Thomas Payzant of Boston asks businesses to hire students despite their lack of a diploma; and the Commissioner requests that federal financial assistance be made available for those without diplomas.
- Most newspapers this week covered the MA DOE release of school proficiency rankings, based on MCAS scores, with most "underperforming" schools, including former awards-winners, coming from urban districts, and raising questions about whether parents will transfer out;  For the state report, see: On the net: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ata/sprp/cycleII/

Once you get past all the news of school rankings, there's also:
- Lobbyist for MCAS, MassInsight, Inc. takes on the role of auditing the school department in New Bedford; 
- Student plaintiffs respond to the state and business groups request to dismiss a lawsuit citing MCAS harm to African American, Latino, vocational, disabled, and ESL students;
- MCAS prep continues in Dracut and Granby - while MCAS prep classes are cut in Milton; and most formerly lost tests are found.
- New Bedford students call for a review of the MCAS graduation requirement.


AP wire/Boston.com, 11/26: Board votes to award 'certificates' to students who fail MCAS
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/330/region/Board_votes_to_award_certifica:.shtml
See also: AP Wire at masslive.com: http://www.masslive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/news/apnews/daily/112602mcas.html
        WILMINGTON, Mass. (AP) The state Board of Education voted Tuesday to create a ''certificate of attainment'' for students who don't pass MCAS, but meet all other graduation requirements.
        The 8-1 vote by the board came despite objections from critics who said the certificate would have little value and create a second tier of students with limited prospects for jobs or college.
Education Commissioner David Driscoll said he wanted to create a three-tiered system for those who pass, those who try hard but don't pass and those who don't try.
        ''This is a very important step in the overall process of trying to design a system that is fair to young people,'' he said.
        The board vote means the state endorses the certificate, but cities and towns can choose whether to give it out. The board also decided the certificate program will be phased out after two years unless the board decides to continue it....
......Driscoll said the state will review the plan next fall, assessing, among other things, how local colleges and businesses react to the certificate and whether it undermines the MCAS by encouraging people to work for a certificate rather than pass the MCAS....
.... The certificate would be given to students who meet all other graduation criteria for their district, take the MCAS retest at least three times and have attendance of 90 percent or better.....
.... The student member of the board, Jeff DeFlavio, was the lone dissenter in the vote....
.... A diploma is required for most jobs and professions, and is necessary to receive financial assistance for continuing education.
        Brookline High School junior Josh Kaufman told the board a learning disability has kept him from passing the math portion of the MCAS, though he's been recruited by Johns Hopkins University. He said the certificate won't give him or other special education students any real opportunities.
        ''I've always intended to go to college and have anticipated going to a competitive school, but as I understand, a certificate will not necessarily allow this, nor will it be my admission ticket to a good job,'' he said....


New Bedford Standard-Times, Op-ed, 11/26: Giving two-tiers of diploma will limit some students
http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-02/11-26-02/a17op053.htm
.... [Tuesday], the Massachusetts Board of Education vote[d] on a proposal that will send our state back to the 1930s. Supported by the Commissioner and business lobby, the proposal establishes "state endorsed local certificates" for students who complete high school but fail MCAS. Only those passing MCAS will receive a diploma.
        The proposal aims to "make the diploma worth something." But when it comes to future earnings and opportunity, the "worth" of a diploma is clear. US Census data show that those with a high school diploma, on average, earn $25,900 annually -- $7,000 more than high school dropouts. A diploma also allows access to post-secondary education and the $45,400 average annual salary that comes with college graduation. Clearly a diploma is a ticket into the middle class, worth $1.2 million over a high school graduate's lifetime....
        Historically, Massachusetts has rejected labeling at the policy level....
.... Separating twelfth-graders into those who are worth only a "certificate" from those who are worth a "diploma" represents a shift away from a commitment to schooling without labeling and away from equal access of educational opportunity. The labels proposed may appear to represent a fair assessment of "merit." In fact, their real power is to sort students into paths of more opportunity for some and less opportunity for others, with little benefit to individuals or society....
.... Already the state's MCAS-based financial aid program disproportionately benefits students in the most advantaged districts: Seniors in Dighton-Rehoboth are 30 times more likely to receive "Koplik scholarships" than in New Bedford.... Likewise, with African-American and Latino students receiving "failing" MCAS marks at three times the rate of their white classmates, minority students will disproportionately receive the second-tier "certificate," a designation that will limit future opportunities.....
.... Schools should not be in the business of dividing "diploma students" from "certificate students" as if we could reliably predict which students will contribute the most or the least to our communities as workers, citizens, and parents.....
.... Labeling students as they exit from high school will clearly limit opportunities of many students, especially minority youth, to make positive contributions to their communities in the future. It will also narrow the larger pool of educated citizens who will fuel future growth in Massachusetts.
        Public policy should work to increase, not decrease, educational attainment across the state.... [C]ommunities themselves should recognize the liabilities of making graduation decisions by a state-determined test and embrace plans to award diplomas to all students who meet local requirements for graduation.
        This story appeared on Page A17 of The Standard-Times on November 26, 2002.



Boston Globe North Weekly, 11/24:  MCAS options mulled; Alternative test pushed
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/328/north/MCAS_options_mulled+.shtml
        Worried about students who may be prevented from attending college, a state panel last week recommended allowing students who fail the MCAS to attend community college if they pass a national test.
        Known as the ''Accuplacer,'' the test is one of seven approved by federal  education officials to evaluate the ability of students who do not have a  high school diploma or equivalent but would like to earn a certificate or  associate's degree. ....
.... ''The mission of our community colleges is to provide access to higher education,'' said Pat plummer, deputy chancellor for policy and planning at the state Board of Higher Education. ''The question is how do we grant access to students who have failed MCAS but are capable of doing the work.''....
....Under the proposal endorsed by the committee, beginning in the fall of 2004, those students would be encouraged to enroll in remedial programs - developmental courses designed to help them master the skills and knowledge needed to pass the Accuplacer. The proposal has been sent to the Board of Higher Education, which is expected to support the plan at its next meeting, on Dec. 5....
..... For students who fail the MCAS, another route to college will be offered by adult education centers with general equivalency degree courses. However, there is a six-month wait to enroll in many of those courses, and the waiting period is expected to grow as enrollments increase as a result of the MCAS.
             This story ran on page 1 of the Globe North section on 11/24/2002.


Boston Globe, 11/25:  Payzant to ask for the College Try
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/329/metro/Payzant_to_ask_for_the_college_try+.shtml
...... Boston Schools Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant said he is confident the city can maintain its record of achievement, especially if business leaders "adopt"  members of the class of 2003 by giving them jobs, even if they haven't earned a diploma. That's the challenge Payzant will issue today while marking the 20th anniversary of the Boston Compact. ....
..... ''We should not give up on these students who don't pass the MCAS,'' Payzant said. ''We need to provide them with support while they work to pass the exam and at the same time get them better prepared for jobs in the future.''
        Payzant's proposal marks another attempt by the School Department to enlist outside help in getting students over  the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System hurdle. Last month, school officials launched a new campaign of phone calls and home visits to high school seniors who are in danger of not graduating because they  haven't passed the test....
..... Those who fail the exam, yet pass all other course  requirements, will be given a local certificate of achievement and have the option to keep retaking the exam.
        Some fear that after four years of high school and repeated MCAS failures, these students may  get frustrated and give up.
        ''The class of 2003 is a very special class because they are the first to face the MCAS  requirement,'' said Neil Sullivan, executive director of the Boston Private Industry Council.  ''We need to do the best we can by these young men and women, even if they don't pass the MCAS.'' .....
        This story ran on page B2 of the Boston Globe on 11/25/2002.



Boston Globe, 11/22: US college aid sought in MCAS failure cases; bid would boost certificate idea
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/326/metro/US_college_aid_sought_in_MCAS_failure_cases-.shtml
.... State Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll is asking the federal government to give access to financial aid for college to some high school seniors who are denied diplomas because they failed MCAS.
        His move comes amid growing public anxiety over the denial of diplomas to potentially thousands of students and growing pressure on state education officials from opponents of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. The federal support would add credibility to Driscoll's effort to award students who fail MCAS - but meet other graduation requirements - a ''certificate of attainment.'' ....... Federal officials yesterday said they are reviewing Driscoll's request, which is the first like it from any state.....
.... In trying to give it real meaning, Driscoll has billed the certificate, which would be awarded by schools but with the state's endorsement, as potentially opening the doors to community colleges, the military, and employment....
.... Meanwhile, as graduation draws closer and about 12,000 students in the Class of 2003 have yet to pass either the English or math test or both, schools say they're anxious to hear what life preserver they can throw to those who are growing discouraged.....
..... But it remains unclear if a certificate will improve their fate. Not only is Driscoll waiting to hear from federal education officials, but his staff is still researching whether a certificate would earn students greater standing upon entering the military.....
.... Under Driscoll's proposal, local school committees could award a state-endorsed certificate to students who have failed MCAS if they have met other local graduation requirements, participated in MCAS tutoring, and taken the MCAS every year. Beginning with the Class of 2004, additional requirements would kick in, including a 90 percent attendance rate - down from the 95 percent proposed by Driscoll in September and opposed by many school districts as greater than their own requirements - and proof that the students have been taking courses in the subject area that they failed on MCAS. Some students are appealing the MCAS requirement, and if they are denied, they also may be eligible for a certificate.....
.... The awarding of the certificate is in itself controversial. The state board this fall received a litany of written comments, mostly negative, on the idea....
.... For months, the state's higher education system has been working on a plan alongside Driscoll to accommodate students who don't pass MCAS but complete other requirements. They will be able to attend MCAS remediation at their local community college - paid for with state MCAS tutorial money to help them get their diploma, said Patricia Plummer, deputy chancellor for policy and planning at the state Board of Higher Education. At the same time, they could be eligible to take developmental courses; and, if they score high enough on a placement test, they could attend regular community college courses.
        Higher education officials predict that about 2,000 students may come through the 15 community colleges' doors without passing the MCAS next fall - many of whom would have been awarded diplomas in previous years....
.... Under the law, to be eligible to apply for federal financial aid, students must have a high school diploma, a GED, or make a certain score on a test that gauges their ability to benefit from post-high school education.
        Driscoll wants to make sure that students who don't score that high on such a test still have access to financial aid. He first mentioned the idea of allowing some students who earn certificates to qualify for financial aid to US Education Secretary Rod Paige on Sept. 16 when the secretary met with several state school chiefs. And he followed up with an Oct. 30 letter formalizing the proposal....
.... To make the request, which Driscoll is suggesting would apply for only two years, he is using a provision in federal financial aid regulations that would allow Paige to approve of a state-created process for making students eligible for aid; the state over time would have to show that students with certificates perform nearly as well in college as their counterparts with diplomas do.....
        This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 11/22/2002.


AP wire/Boston.com, 11/22: State asking for federal aid for students failing MCAS
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/326/region/State_asking_for_federal_aid_f:.shtml
        The state education commissioner is asking for access to federal college financial aid for students who won't get high school diplomas because they failed the MCAS test.
Federal officials said Thursday they are reviewing Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll's request, the first of its kind from any state.....
..... ''I've been asked hundreds of times, 'What will you do for the kid who doesn't pass MCAS but does everything else?''' Driscoll told the Boston Globe. ''I believe they should get something.'' ....
.... State higher education officials predict that about 2,000 students, who haven't passed the MCAS, may seek attendance at the 15 community colleges next fall, and financial education would help them greatly....
.... ''Students are getting very close to a time when they don't know what their future's going to look like,'' said Deborah DePaolo, principal of the Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton, where at least 15 seniors have not yet passed one or both MCAS sections. She said at least five of those students had planned to go to college, and would be ''devastated'' if they couldn't go.



AP wire/Boston.com, 11/25: Statewide underperforming figures released
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/329/region/Statewide_underperforming_figuP.shtml
        About 200 of the state's 1,800 schools were declared ''underperforming'' Monday as part of a new ratings system mandated by federal law that could allow parents to transfer their children out of those schools....
.... The performance ratings, which measure the progress of the schools' students on the MCAS test, are now required under the No Child Left Behind law, which directs states to have students performing at a proficient level by 2014.
        ''Their purpose is to primarily drive educators and policy-makers at the state and local level to probe deeper, to work harder and smarter, to identify those barriers to improvement and accelerate the pace of change and reform,'' Board of Education Chairman Jim Peyser said Monday at a press conference where the results were released.
        Progress is measured by comparing MCAS math and English scores over two-year intervals. The 1999-2000 scores comprise a school's baseline, from which targets are established to reach proficiency by 2014.
        Schools that fail to make ''adequate yearly progress'' could face sanctions, including a state takeover or being required to pay transportation costs for students to attend better-performing schools.
        Forty-four of Boston's 110 schools are on the underperforming list. Sixteen of Springfield's 36 schools made the list, as did 14 of 43 Worcester schools, according to the report. Lowell has 12 on the list, 11 each for New Bedford and Fall River, and 10 in Lynn....
.... Schools are scored separately for math and English, but ratings below target in either subject qualify schools for the underperforming list. All five Lawrence schools on the list, for example, had sufficient English scores but failed to make adequate progress in math.
        Schools are assigned improvement targets for the number of points their schools are expected to improve each year. Their success in meeting those targets determines the school's improvement rating....
.... Parents of children attending a school on the underperforming list can request, beginning in January, a transfer to another school in their district. Transfers are accommodated on a space-available basis.....


Boston Herald, 11/25: MCAS judgment day will put onus on educators
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/mcas11252002.htm
........ For superintendents already besieged with state mandates and a growing list of rapidly approaching deadlines from the ``No Child Left Behind'' education law, their primary fear is that successful schools will be lost amid the list of schools deemed ``in need of improvement''.
        ``There are schools that have done very well in this process and we're afraid their good work is going to be overshadowed when people go looking for the bad news,'' said Worcester Superintendent James Caradonio.....
.... One list of schools deemed ``in need of improvement'' for the past four years, will include 26 schools. Of those, 16 had low math ratings and 10 had low performance in both English and Math, officials said.
        A second list of schools deemed ``in need of improvement'' for the past two years contains 19 different schools. Seven of those schools were flagged for English performance, four for math performance and eight for performance in both subjects.
        Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant said some schools on the lists have high overall performance, but did not meet the improvement goals required by a state formula. Other low-performing schools were not placed on the lists because they made acceptable gains....
.... The ratings are based on a formula that gives a school between 0 and 100 points per student based on their scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams. Those numbers give schools and districts performance ratings in English and math.
        All schools and districts have improvement targets - a certain number of points their performance ratings are expected to increase per year. How well they do in meeting those targets determines a school or district's improvement rating.
        Finally, schools will be judged on whether they met the goals set for ``annual yearly progress'' or AYP, an acronym likely to come to rival MCAS in the state's education vocabulary, according to Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll....
.... In the short-term, schools ``in need of improvement'' will be required to offer parents of low-income students - those who qualify for federal Title 1 funding - the choice of a new school or supplemental services.
        Districts that lack extra space or already allow parents to choose schools expect to be exempt from the ``choice'' requirement. Instead, they will offer supplementary services.
        Once hyped as dollars for private tutors, the services will come from district lists of DOE-approved providers, who could range from private companies to non-profit groups to the school departments themselves. So far, the DOE has yet to certify the providers.
Lawrence Superintendent Wilfredo LeBoy said he doesn't expect private providers to come to his impoverished district.
        ``We don't even have a bookstore here,'' said LeBoy. ``We don't have a Sylvan Learning Center anywhere to be found. This is the lack of foresight and honesty in the conversation we are having about accountability.''


Boston Globe, 11/26: 194 schools lag in state's rating list; Evaluations let some parents transfer children
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/330/metro/194_schools_lag_in_state_s_rating_list-.shtml
        In a revamped system for judging schools and districts, state education officials yesterday released performance and improvement ratings that are aimed at making every student proficient and that will allow some parents to transfer their children out of struggling campuses or use school money for private tutoring.
        Of the 1,630 schools that received ratings, 194 were placed on a ''needing improvement'' list, down from 259 schools on a list compiled two years ago and released this summer, officials announced at a State House news conference. Under a new federal law, parents of students at those schools may transfer their children to other district schools. And about half of the schools on the new list were placed on it for the second time, triggering a provision in the law allowing low-income parents in those schools to seek private tutoring with federal dollars, starting in January.
        The state-issued ratings, released every two years, are based on annual MCAS scores, but are different because the ratings measure a school's performance over time and its progress toward set goals. For example, the ratings compare student MCAS scores in math and English in 1999-2000 with scores in 2001-02. Most striking: Nearly every high school in the state met its improvement goals in English and math, in some cases, enough to get them off the list - this even amid public anxiety at the prospect of denying students diplomas this spring for the first time for failing the 10th grade MCAS test....
.... Another familiar theme emerged yesterday: While Bay State students have made significant strides in English, their math performance lags. Overall, about 83 percent of schools reached their targets for improvement in English, but only 55 percent reached their math targets.....
.... At the same time, evaluating schools and districts on how they reach the goal of making all students proficient helps some high-performing districts. Under the old formula, those schools were labeled ''failed to meet'' expectations because they did not push their top-notch scores any higher. The new ratings offer more leeway in meeting improvement targets....
.... Even as the state released the ratings - and the ''needs improvement'' list - officials cautioned that the Education Department lacks the resources to thoroughly evaluate the programs at many of the schools deserving attention. Under the federal law, a school on the needing-improvement list for several years can be taken over by the state. But the state is already struggling to help a handful of schools deemed ''underperforming'' in previous years....
.... Not surprisingly, the ratings showed suburban schools tended to dominate the ranks of schools with the highest performance labels. And urban schools, which generally struggle with higher numbers of students from low-income homes and students who move in and out of schools, made up the bulk of those on the needing-improvement list....
.... In some cases, the ratings also seemed to reflect an arbitrariness, some school officials said. For example, a number of Boston's highly-regarded, popular schools appeared on the list of schools needing improvement because their progress wasn't strong enough to classify them as having met adequate yearly progress.
        But not one of the city's struggling non-exam schools, where hundreds of students risk being denied a diploma because they have yet to pass the MCAS, showed up on the list that featured 44 Boston schools in all.....
        This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 11/26/2002.


Boston Globe, 11/26: School ratings bring some confusion
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/330/metro/School_ratings_bring_some_confusion-.shtml
        Nearly two years ago to the day, beaming state officials stood inside the James Otis Elementary School in East Boston and hailed the century-old school as a model of how strong teaching and focused teamwork could result in top-ranked MCAS scores.
        Yesterday, the Otis surfaced on a list of 194 schools deemed ''in need of improvement'' by the Department of Education - even though MCAS scores in one subject had risen....
.... Schools scoring below state averages in English and math - or that didn't improve fast enough - earned a spot on the new list. They were classified as having not made ''adequate yearly progress,'' or AYP, a designation required by the new federal law.
        In the Boston public schools, that designation left many scratching their heads. Schools that district officials have singled out for praise made the list of low performers: the Otis, the James M. Curley Elementary School, and the Thomas Gardner Extended Services School.
        Left off were Boston's struggling non-exam high schools, which have hundreds of students who could be denied diplomas in June if they have not passed the MCAS test....
.... Yesterday, administrators voiced frustration at having to set aside $4 million in federal money to aid schools that made the list, even though other schools might need it more....
.... At the Otis, scores on the English MCAS rose between 2000 and 2002, and dropped in math. Yet the school got on the list for doing the reverse: It apparently didn't make adequate progress in English, but made it in math. That's because Otis students matched the average math score that the state uses to judge adequate progress, but trailed the state's English average.....
.... ''We're not trying to penalize these schools. We're not trying to make them out to be failures by any means,'' Department of Education spokeswoman Heidi B. Perlman said. ''We're simply saying these are schools that have not improved enough.''....
.... 95 [of the schools] made the list a second time, signifying little improvement between 1999 and 2002. As required by the No Child Left Behind Act, those schools must offer similar parental choice or give parents a share of federal money to pay for private tutoring.
        But some parents at the schools on the list said they would do neither, indicating that the sting carried by the ''in need of improvement'' label depends on the beholder.....
        This story ran on page B6 of the Boston Globe on 11/26/2002.


Boston Globe, 11/25:  Some fault new system for rating the schools
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/329/metro/Some_fault_new_system_for_rating_the_schools+.shtml
        State education officials today will release school peformance ratings, a key part of President Bush's No Child Left Behind education initiative, but several Massachusetts superintendents said the rating system is confusing and the findings may be premature.
        ''What's being done wasn't road-tested very well. It's just concepts and ideas cobbled  together,'' said Worcester Superintendent James Caradonio. ''It's got good intentions, but it's getting to the point where it's too much too soon, and everywhere you turn it's a maze.''....
.....  Heidi Perlman, state Department of Education spokeswoman, said the department has tried to keep districts informed about the evaluations required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, including holding workshops and fielding daily phone calls from district officials with questions....
        But some superintendents, who already have seen their districts' results, said the new system remains flawed....
......''We really don't have a lot of guidance from the Department of Education or from the federal government,'' said Lawrence Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy, who wonders what he will tell parents when they ask where they can get the private tutoring they may be entitled to.
        ''I'm afraid that we'll get these overnight programs popping  up and calling themselves supplemental service providers,'' he said. ''Who is going to monitor the quality of these services?''
        Despite the anxiety the performance ratings may generate, some district officials welcomed the evaluations. ''I think it's been helpful. It seems like a fair way to do it,'' said Belmont Superintendent  Peter A. Holland.....


Boston Herald, 11/26: State to slacking schools: Shape up
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/mcas11262002.htm
.... For 95 schools that failed to meet improvement benchmarks for four straight years, the ratings mean their districts will have to either offer low-income students a choice of other schools or supplemental academic services next spring. Those that fail to improve next year, could be at risk for dramatic restructuring....
.... But advocates for parents whose children qualify for federal Title 1 assistance said the state has not moved fast enough to help the low-income students.
        One Boston group said there will not be enough time for schools to coordinate supplemental services before a Jan. 31 deadline, when parents must state which educational remedies they want for students.
        `I'm 90 percent positive that they will run out of time,'' said Owen Toney, a parent organizer with Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now in Boston....
        Boston districts that expect to have to offer supplemental services have not been able to complete planning because the state has yet to designate a list of approved providers of the services - which could include private companies, nonprofit groups or school districts themselves....
.... Driscoll said the state would have the list of providers sometime after Jan. 1 and admitted the state had trouble setting up the program.
        "It's taken time, unfortunately,'' said Driscoll. ``It's taken us just as long as the schools to sort through these new laws and regulations.''....
..... While local and state officials have the option of taking over or ``reconstituting'' schools on the list for five years running, he said there was little appetite or money at the state level to take such dramatic steps. ......
.......There are four Bay State middle schools that education officials have deemed `underperforming'' through a separate enforcement program.... All four yesterday were shown to have made ``adequate yearly progress'' ....
.... Anne Waas, vice president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, questioned the financial abilities of the state and federal government to support the dramatic education overhauls they have launched. ``Schools and students and teachers are working harder,'' said Waas. ``The biggest concern is whether the state is working hard and the federal government is working hard to provide the tools and resources necessary to help these schools in need of improvement.''


Springfield Union News, 11/26: Proficiency ratings up, but cities still lag
http://www.masslive.com/news/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/news-0/103829940666463.xml
        BOSTON - Like their counterparts across the state, students in Western Massachusetts have made strides toward proficiency this year under a new rating system that ranks schools and districts from zero to 100......
.... The ratings system was changed to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Law enacted in January. Using Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System Test scores in grades 4, 7, 8 and 10, each school is ranked for proficiency and improvement in the two key subjects.....
......  In Western Massachusetts there are now 44 schools on the list, most of them in urban districts, including 16 in Springfield, eight in Chicopee, six in Holyoke, and three each in Westfield and North Adams. In Springfield the number of schools with the negative designation dropped from 24....
.... Under the new rating system for proficiencies, schools are given 100 points each for students who earned proficient or advanced ratings on MCAS tests given in May.
        Students who earned needs-improvement or failing grades are given points depending on where they scored. School grades represent the total number of points divided by the total number of students.
        Improvement ratings show whether schools have made adequate progress toward the federal goal of 100 percent proficiency rating by 2014. Schools with a 70 percent or higher proficiency rate are not put on the underperforming list.
        Springfield schools earned an average proficiency of 60.6 in English, considered low but above the city target. In mathematics the ranking was 42.6, or very low, and improvements were below targets.....


New Bedford Standard-Times, 11/26: City schools slow to improve; 11 of 26 fail to meet goals for progress
http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-02/11-26-02/a01lo006.htm
.... Nine of New Bedford's 22 elementary schools failed to make "adequate yearly progress" in English or math for the second straight two-year period. Two of the city's three junior high or middle schools -- Keith and Normandin -- also failed to meet the standard for the second time.
        That means the schools will get additional federal money for tutoring of low-income students under the federal No Child Left Behind law. They also will be required under federal law to offer parents the option to transfer their children to higher-performing schools in the district as soon as January, with the city picking up the transportation cost....
.... Mr. Driscoll said New Bedford has several factors working in its favor.
        "With a new superintendent, with a focus on a clear plan in English and math, we're starting to see some improvement (in New Bedford)," Mr. Driscoll said. "I think whether it's New Bedford or Fall River or Lawrence or Holyoke or Springfield, we knew these schools had special challenges. I think what parents need to do is pay attention very closely to this performance.....
....  Debra Letendre, the principal of the Dunbar School, thought teachers and students were working hard. She wanted to make sure the way classroom lessons were taught matched up to the MCAS testing method. She also wanted to remove all distractions, including construction near the school during testing time.....
.......Ms. Letendre thought the test results might be more revealing if they tracked fourth-graders to fifth grade to see how much they improved, rather than testing a new group of fourth-graders every year....
.... The ratings analysis has been controversial with many school officials, because it counts improvement more heavily than actual MCAS scores. As a result, many wealthy, high-performing schools ended up on the "identified for improvement" list last time.
        The ratings system was altered this year to keep the top-performing schools off the list. Now, some urban schools are complaining they were left off the list, and will lose out on federal tutoring funds.....
        This story appeared on Page A1 of The Standard-Times on November 26, 2002.


New Bedford Standard-Times, 11/26: Few parents eager to swap schools
http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-02/11-26-02/a09lo021.htm
        NEW BEDFORD -- The state yesterday identified 11 New Bedford schools as needing improvement, giving parents the power to remove students and send them to another, better-performing school in the city.
        But most parents interviewed yesterday said they were happy with their child's school and would not move them.....
.... Tony Martin, whose daughter Ruby attends Carney, said he has been  pleased with the level of support provided by the staff.  "The principal and the teachers have helped in all I need to do as a parent," he said. As for the disappointing MCAS results, he added: "I don't agree with the MCAS exam anyway."
.... [F]ew parents interviewed outside the Abraham Lincoln school yesterday seemed eager to move their children to different schools.  Some said their children like the school and have done well there, but others were upset and disappointed that Lincoln's fourth-graders consistently scored low on MCAS English and math tests.....
.... However, other parents said they would keep their children at Lincoln despite its poor MCAS results.....
....  David Berube of New Bedford, who has two grandchildren in fourth grade, does not think the school is at fault. "My grandchildren seem to be doing well at this school," said Mr. Berube. "I think the problem is the state in general, with funding." .....
        This story appeared on Page A9 of The Standard-Times on November 26, 2002.


New Bedford Standard-Times, 11/26: Suburbs do well, but room for gains
http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-02/11-26-02/a01lo009.htm
.... Of the 200 schools so identified by officials yesterday, only a handful were not city schools.
But while the area's suburban schools were spared the label, many of the region's top schools have room to improve....
.... But ORR, which as a district had better math and English numbers than any district in the region, received only a "moderate" rating in math.
"It's hard to say why one seems to lag behind the other, and by fairly significant amounts," Dr. Cooper said. "But one thing we'll consider is spending more minutes on math, beginning in the lower grades, and continuing right on up." ...
.... Based on the data released yesterday, The Standard-Times has compiled snapshots of our region's suburban districts.....
This story appeared on Page A1 of The Standard-Times on November 26, 2002.


Metrowest Daily News, 11/26:  Wilson School fails MCAS criteria
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/fram_mcas11262002.htm
        BOSTON -- Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Framingham is the only school in MetroWest that has failed to meet the state's minimum standards for improvement on the MCAS test, according to a report released yesterday. ....
.... Framingham schools Superintendent Mark Smith said the Wilson School's low English scores shouldn't be viewed as an indictment of the school's teachers or principal, Robin Welch....
.....Welch said the school also has earned its share of MCAS success. In  2001 and 2002, he said, Wilson School was the only elementary school in town that didn't have any third-graders earn a "warning" mark  on the third-grade reading test.
        "The rating doesn't reflect the reality of the situation," Welch said of yesterday's report. "It doesn't represent where we are now. We had one bad year, and now we're being unfairly punished for it."....
......Education Commissioner David Driscoll said he hopes parents of students who attend "underperforming" schools will exercise "common sense" in deciding whether to move their kids to a different school.
        "A lot of parents will not necessarily want to move their children at this time, but they have the right to," he said. "We're talking about real parents with real kids. They'll know the right thing to do.".....


Brockton Enterprise, 11/26: Nine area schools called lacking
http://www.southofboston.com/display/inn_2headlines/news2ent.txt
        Nine area schools — in Brockton, Taunton, Holbrook and Randolph — failed to meet targets for improvement on MCAS scores under a new federal law....
.... Two years ago, in a rating called Cycle I, the state first targeted certain schools as needing to improve their MCAS scores. On Monday, a second round of ratings, called Cycle II, was released....
.... Both ratings are based on MCAS scores, and previous rankings were scored again using the new system to make the two lists compatible....
... Randolph Superintendent Arthur J. Melia said there was nothing to set the Lyons school apart from others in town, except it started with a high baseline score. Progress is measured from a base set under 1999-2000 scores....


Quincy Patriot-Ledger, 11/26: Four local schools failing to meet the grade
http://ledger.southofboston.com/display/inn_news/news03.txt
        Three South Shore schools failed to make ‘‘adequate yearly progress'' in mathematics, and one failed to adequately improve in English, according to new performance ratings....
.... Randolph Superintendent of Schools Arthur Melia said teachers and students at both underperforming schools in his district will concentrate on improving MCAS scores.
        ‘‘We have to make sure that there is adequate progress,'' he said. But he criticized the idea of calling a school ‘‘underperforming'' based on test results of a single grade.
        ‘‘You're testing different kids from different circumstances each year, and it's hard to compare,'' he said.
        Melia also noted that state education officials praised Lyons Elementary School two years ago for making strides on the MCAS test, and he doubts parents will seek to remove their students. .....
.... The statewide teachers' union blasted the new system, saying a school's effectiveness cannot be measured by the results of a single test.
        ‘‘Schools are rated on a complicated formula that in the end shows us what we already know: that low-income, minority and special education students are not performing as well as their more affluent peers,'' said Laura Barrett of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.


Lowell Sun, 11/26: 10 Lowell schools unachieving
http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105%257E4746%257E1014537,00.html
        Ten city schools did not show required gains in the 2002 MCAS tests and have been listed as "underperforming" by the state Department of Education.....
.... Under President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, beginning in January parents of students at underperforming schools may transfer their children to any school in the district that received adequate ratings.....
.... The state has devised the formula to identify struggling districts and schools, with the goal that all children will rate at least "proficient" on the tests by 2014. Schools must show a level of improvement every two years that is adequate to reach that goal....
.... Driscoll said there is no reason for parents to delay taking advantage of No Child Left Behind. But [Supt. Karla] Baehr said school officials here assume the new  law's parental choice option will not be available until next school year"just because that's less disruptive, but we need clarification on that.".....
.....  There's an added wrinkle in Lowell.  The city's 15-year-old federally mandated desegregation program allows  parents to send their kids to almost any public school if space is available and admitting the student does not upset the school's ethnic balance.
        The balance must reflect, within 10 percentage points, the district's overall racial makeup.
        Baehr said district officials must work with the state education department to determine whether the new federal law would carry more weight.
        James Peyser, the chairman of the state Board of Education, said the new choice option is not an "unfettered right." New placements cannot displace existing students, he said.....
..... Lowell and Lawrence were the only Merrimack Valley communities with schools rated as underperforming. ....


Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise, 11/26: Four Fitchburg schools hit on MCAS scores New rating system marks them as 'under performning'
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106%257E4992%257E1014312,00.html
        Three of Fitchburg's four elementary schools and one of its middle schools were among 202 schools statewide deemed as "underperforming" Monday under a new process for rating performance on the MCAS test....
....The DOE released the list of underperformers yesterday as part of a much larger report detailing MCAS scores by school district and by school for a variety of tests taken by students in grades 4, 7, 8 and 10. The report showed gradual improvement in many area districts, including  Fitchburg, where fewer failing scores on the grade 10 English-language arts and mathematics tests were seen as signs of progress....
.... School Committee Chairman Glenn Capone, reached last night, said while he was disturbed by the  news that Fitchburg schools made the list, he's not sure the numbers support singling them out as "underperformers." He pointed out that each of the four's English scores came close to cracking the "moderate" level -- the fourth-highest level of six -- and that Reingold actually did make its performance target in math.
        Capone said he wanted to learn more about the state's specific performance criteria "before we hang labels that mean something derogatory on an educational building.".....


New Bedford Standard-Times, 11/21: Think tank to examine city schools
http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-02/11-21-02/a01lo002.htm
        NEW BEDFORD -- A top-to-bottom educational audit of New Bedford's public schools will be done in the first half of next year by a Boston-based think tank devoted to education reform in Massachusetts.
        The ultimate goal will be to look at what works and what doesn't, then use those findings to improve education in New Bedford.
        The nonprofit Mass Insight Education Research Institute, a spinoff of a larger organization devoted to public-private economic development issues, is in the final stages of negotiating a contract with the city's schools, Superintendent Michael E. Longo said yesterday.
        Funded by federal grant money, the audit will be the first of its kind and a model for the rest of the state, said Jason Kingston, Mass Insight's director of field research and consulting services....
.... Mr. Kingston said Mass Insight, while it has no official status, has been working closely with the state Department of Education to fill the need to survey the state and learn what works, and why.       Pressure on students and on school systems is building as the state approaches the spring of 2003; it is the first graduating class whose seniors must pass the 10th grade Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests in order to graduate....


Boston Globe, 11/21: Plaintiffs urge to hear MCAS challenge
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/325/metro/Plaintiffs_urge_to_hear_MCAS_challenge-.shtml
......  Lawyers for eight Massachusetts high school seniors ripped the state's ''blind devotion'' to the MCAS test and accused officials of engaging in ''tortured semantic gymnastics'' in asking the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, filed in September. The state moved to dismiss the case a month ago, and the plaintiffs responded yesterday in a 90-page filing, charging state education officials with ''triggering an unprecedented crisis'' if students who fail the exam are denied diplomas.
        ''The futures of many young people will be crippled as they approach adulthood,'' the motion to US District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor read. ''The dreams and aspirations of those who intend to attend college will be shattered. Doors will be closed to countless jobs requiring applicants to have a high school diploma.''
        Heidi B. Perlman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, declined to comment yesterday, saying lawyers had not reviewed the filing. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's office will respond by Wednesday, she said. Last week, several business groups joined the state in asking Ponsor to throw out the suit......
..... Reilly's office had asserted that the lawsuit carried no weight because no diplomas have been denied, and that the eight students might pass the test before June. But the plaintiffs argued that the students face ongoing harm, such as ''depression, anxiety, and fear.'' The students' lawyers also disputed the state's assertion of immunity under the 11th Amendment of the US Constitution.
        The students' lawyers have asserted that the MCAS test discriminates against minority, disabled, and vocational students, and said schools have not taught students the material on the tough exam....
.... Ponsor has set a Dec. 2 hearing on the motions to dismiss the case.
        This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 11/21/2002.


Boston Globe, 11/20/02: Most of lost MCAS papers have been found, state says
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/324/metro/Most_of_lost_MCAS_papers_have_been_found_state_says-.shtml
..... State education officials say they've since found most of the missing tests and recently notified all but a handful of the students that their scores have improved - in some cases enough to pass the test and graduate. The rest should hear their new results within two weeks.
        The scramble within schools to get scores for the missing sections of the high-stakes tests is the latest illustration of what school administrators describe as an increasingly cumbersome array of MCAS-related paperwork for them....
.... ''It's very difficult to keep track of who's taking it and who's passed, and now that we have two grade levels to keep track of, it's a lot,'' said Deborah DePaolo, principal and assistant superintendent of Blue Hills Regional Technical High School. Three students at the school were given incomplete scores on the spring retest because their MCAS English compositions had been misplaced....
.... But the push to resolve those retest glitches has grown more urgent as the Class of 2003 prepares to graduate.
        In September, when Blue Hills and a few other schools around the state received scores for the last retest given in May, they found that some of their students - many of them with special needs - weren't awarded points for their English long compositions. Schools began calling the state Department of Education, which found that about a dozen students across the state who took the retest in English were missing that score....
.... In some cases, schools retested seniors in English composition at the same time 10th-graders took the MCAS test, which led to problems in scoring the retest.
        Other compositions vanished because the testing company might have misplaced them, or because schools might have packed them incorrectly before shipping them to Texas for scoring, said Jeff Nellhaus, state associate commissioner for student assessment....
.... In Natick, a frustrated Susan Setta began calling the state Department of Education several weeks ago to ask why her son Geoffrey Weagraff, 17, didn't get credit for the composition portion of his retest. Without the composition, he'd scored a 216 - just four points shy of passing....
.... Weagraff, a Natick High School senior who wants to attend college and become a music librarian, is autistic. Using an accommodation for special-needs students, Weagraff wrote his composition on a school computer. In such cases, the school mails a printout of the composition along with the student's test booklet to the testing company, Harcourt Educational Measurement, for scoring.
        In Weagraff's case, neither the school nor the state could find the printout, even though there was evidence on the school computer that he had written it. So statisticians examined his answers on the rest of the test and calculated the points he probably would have received from his essay, Perlman said.
        Meanwhile, Weagraff steeled himself to take the MCAS test again in December. But about two weeks ago, his mother learned that the estimate indicated he would have earned enough points on the composition to pass and deemed him fit to graduate.
This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 11/20/2002.


Quincy Patriot Ledger, 11/20/02:  Milton schools decry cuts
http://ledger.southofboston.com/display/inn_news/news08.txt
        Administrators, teachers, parents and community members told the Milton School Committee last night it needs to do all it can to restore at least some of the 35 positions eliminated this summer by budget cuts.....
.... Many people described how cuts have decimated library, physical education, art, special education and MCAS-preparation programs in the district's six schools.
        ‘‘Many of our best students will leave the school system if (parents) realize that their students can't learn basic skills like using the library,'' said Joanne Fate, echoing the statements of many who spoke....
.... Pierce Middle School Principal John Phelan advocated for the restoration of a full-time librarian. He illustrated his point by bringing a crate filled with computer keyboards that sit idle in the library because there is no staff person to supervise students on them.
        ‘‘These are collecting dust for the majority of the day because there is not sufficient staff for the library,'' he said.
        Milton High School parent Deborah Sullivan pointed out that the New England Association of Schools and Colleges continues to keep Milton High School on probation, and said any more cuts would make it nearly impossible to improve that status.
        ‘‘The perennial poverty at the high school is hurting education there,'' she said....


Springfield Union-News, 11/20:  High schoolers get math help sessions
        GRANBY - The Granby School District will offer an after-school program to Junior-Senior High School students who need to raise their Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test scores.....
..... While priority will be given to junior and seniors who failed, Robert also hopes that ninth- and 10th-graders who fell into the needs-improvement category will take advantage of the program....
.... Of the 90 10th-graders who took the MCAS last spring and are now juniors, 16 percent failed the mathematics test and 44 percent need improvement.
        Of the 87 eighth-graders, 26 percent failed the test and 44 percent fell into the needs-improvement category.
        "We are going to offer it to approximately 70 students in the High School; we hope we get a lot of students to participate," Robert said.
        A $13,500 state Department of Education grant will pay for the after-school program, he said. ...
....
 
Lowell Sun, 11/21/02: Specific MCAS questions
http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105%257E4761%257E1005285,00.html
        DRACUT Sometimes the problem with MCAS is not that students do not know their material, but that they don't recognize what answer a question is looking for.
        Starting tomorrow, Dracut students in kindergarten through eighth grade will begin lessons under a program that seeks to make the way subjects are taught align more closely with the way they are tested on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.
        Under the program, teachers will begin getting weekly packets that contain sample MCAS questions taken from tests given in previous years, according to Superintendent Elaine Espindle, who gave the School Committee an overview of the program Monday night......
        The subject matter students are taught will not change. The way it is taught will.
        "What we're doing is we're teaching them the way the questions are presented to them," Dumont said. "What we've found through our own review is that sometimes instructional techniques don't always match up with the testing design."
        Espindle said the program is not being implemented because of students' performances on the math portion of the MCAS. "The results are fine for Dracut but we're giving it an extra push," she said.
The program is targeted at elementary and junior high students because senior high school students already have programs to help them with MCAS, Espindle said.
        The sample questions in teachers' packets will include open-ended questions, multiple-choice and short-answer questions, according to Dumont. Questions that were included in previous tests are available from the state, he said.


Springfield Union-News, 11/18/02: State test looms over graduation
http://www.masslive.com/holyoke/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/news-4/103760822920624.xml
        CHICOPEE - With time running out for more than 90 seniors who have not passed the state graduation exam, educators are working on ways to help them earn diplomas.....
.... In Chicopee there are 84 students who have taken the exam as sophomores and been retested as juniors but have not passed.
        About 20 other seniors have entered Chicopee schools this year from private or out-of-state schools and have never taken the MCAS, said Elizabeth A. Zielinski, principal of Horizon Academy. .... Students can take a variety of programs through the schools along with an in-school MCAS preparation class all juniors and seniors take if they fail.  There are also after-school, before-school and weekend classes and one-on-one tutoring available, Zielinski said. ....
.... Superintendent Basan N. Nembirkow said he appointed Zielinski to the job to ensure students had every opportunity to get extra help and to make sure data is kept so students can apply for waivers.
        At least 14 students have met all state criteria to allow them to graduate without passing MCAS. Zielinski said she is preparing waiver applications for them. ....
.... Zielinski said it is worth applying for the waivers, but believes most of the qualifying students will pass the next retake in December....
.... "If you look at the data ... 90 percent or more have scored 218. They are missing by two points," she said....
.... But Zielinski said she is concerned about the number of students who receive special education services who have failed. In one high school half the students who have not passed are in special education. In the other high school, two or three receive special services.....

Springfield Union-News, 11/25: Nursery kids prep for MCAS future
http://www.masslive.com/springfield/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1038213924293200.xml
.... It may look and sound like child's play, but Nicolas is accomplishing something far greater at the Sumner Avenue site of Springfield Day Nursery: He's developing specific skills that are preparing him to pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests down the road....
.... [Executive vicepresident Judi] Freccaro said the Springfield Day Nursery has aligned all of its lessons and adventures with the "guidelines for preschool curriculum experiences," based on the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks....
.... "The standards we use are a direct link to the standards they will get in school and eventually, be tested on. We're getting them ready," said Freccaro.....


Op-ed: New Bedford Standard-Times, 11/18/02:  Youth group opposes MCAS requirement
http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-02/11-18-02/a14op059.htm
....    It's ironic that The Standard-Times editorial staff would believe that trying to exert control over what is a single-item graduation requirement, as the assembled school committees did last month, would be defined as aiming low (School Committees aim low, Nov. 4).
        I think it's evident from the multiple complaints about this test that it has yet to prove anything, besides how we can create robots incapable of independent thought.
        It wastes money that could be spent on establishing smaller class sizes, higher teacher pay, art programs, music classes, etc. ....
.... Even our own committee (with the exception of Mr. Finnerty) agrees with a re-examination of using MCAS as the single determination of graduation.....