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MCAS in the News February 22 - March 1, 2003
News from the last week of February 2003:
- A special report includes a series of in-depth profiles
of four South Shore students
who have taken MCAS through four rounds -- and what happens when they
learn the results;
- School committees, parents, and students continue to
resist the MCAS graduation requirement:
---- Milford will give
diplomas to students with disabilities;
---- Arlington school committee members consider
granting diplomas to all
graduating seniors;
----- Boston parents and students
rally for a graduation requirement delay at the
State House:
Waltham;
- While districts like Lynn, Brockton, and Boston
make preparations for announcing retest results to
students, retest scores are out in other districts,
including Dighton-Rehoboth,
Springfield, and Chicopee.
- Along with federal testing-for-accountability policies,
MCAS pressures force elimination of recess in
Waltham;
- The Department of Education's letter to 158
seniors informing them of their MCAS appeals decision
misspells "mathematics."
- Two commentaries about the
Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee
applaud the decision to award diplomas to all seniors who
meet graduation requirements and call on other school committees to do
the same; a third says MCAS has not improved learning
but has pushed many students out of school.
- And the Globe's real estate-MCAS link of the week
focuses on Ashburnham, where housing prices and
MCAS scores both fall below those of Weston, Concord, or Acton.
THE PROFILES:
Quincy Patriot Ledger: 2/22-2/28: Fear of failure:
Students are anxious, perplexed about the life-altering effects of flunking MCAS
http://www.southofboston.net/specialreports/mcas/day1_main.html
Immigrant students worry about dashed parental hopes,
dreams
http://www.southofboston.net/specialreports/mcas/day2_main.html
.... Eighteen-year-old Joe Cao is afraid to tell his parents he has not passed
the MCAS exam. His parents emigrated to the United States from China with the
hope that their children would get a solid American education, go to college and
get better jobs than they have found....
.....Although Cao is able to speak English conversationally, he still has
trouble understanding many of the words in MCAS reading passages and using
proper sentence structure in essays. He has passed the math portion of the MCAS,
but has failed the English section three times.....
..... Immigrants like Cao who are struggling to learn English clearly have a
tougher time with the MCAS than other students. While only 13 percent of regular
education students in the Class of 2003 have failed the exam, 65 percent of the
2,335 seniors with limited English skills have failed....
.... Although Cao is able to speak English conversationally, he still has
trouble understanding many of the words in MCAS reading passages and using
proper sentence structure in essays. He has passed the math portion of the MCAS,
but has failed the English section three times. .....
For special ed students, the MCAS can be a nightmare
http://www.southofboston.net/specialreports/mcas/day2_side.html
Every night, Jonathan Galina lies awake in bed
with the same thought: I'm not going to school tomorrow. I quit.
Galina, a Randolph High School senior with a learning
disability, is worried that he might not see graduation day in June because he
can't pass the MCAS.....
.....The wide learning gap between Galina and his peers is apparent. For
example, the math portion of the MCAS covers algebra and geometry in depth, but
Galina is still working on fractions, percentages and decimals, and is just
starting to break into pre-algebra, Soufy said.
In early December, shortly before attempting the MCAS for
the third time, Galina was visibly nervous. He thumbed through practice tests
and a nearly 500-page study guide filled with math questions he didn't have a
clue how to answer. He felt overwhelmed, but he was still trying, still
resisting the urge to give up.
Days before the test, math tutor Larry Larson was working
with Galina one-on-one in school. He was mapping out all the possible number
combinations in a roll of two dice on an overhead projector. .....
..... It is breaking his parents' hearts to watch their son focus almost too
much energy on this one all-important test.
"Sometimes he talks about it morning to night. He will
cry and say, 'I want to become somebody. How am I going to do that without a
diploma?,' his mother, Barbara Galina, said. "It's the most important thing in
the world to him, to get that diploma.
College material vocational students often have tougher
time meeting MCAS requirements
http://www.southofboston.net/specialreports/mcas/day3_main.html
When the college admissions officer arrived, Ashley Shea
was ready. Shea, 17, pulled out her resume and a portfolio filled with several
student newspapers she has designed and edited. She made it clear she would love
to enroll in the multimedia program at the New England Institute of Technology
in Rhode Island this fall. ....
.... The admissions officer, Paul Dugre, was clearly impressed with her work.
....
.... When Shea took the MCAS for the first time in her sophomore year, she
passed the English section, but failed the math section by two points. The
second time she took it, her math score dropped an additional two points. On her
third attempt, her score dropped by another two points......
...... "I'm telling Ashley not to worry," Dugre said. "She should not have a
problem getting in. We don't have a lot of faith in the MCAS. If that should
stop a good student like Ashley from getting into (college) and being productive
in society, what is the purpose other than holding someone back?
Student stumped MCAS test, and vice versa
http://www.southofboston.net/specialreports/mcas/day3_side.html
Jennifer Mueller, 18, was smart enough to stump
mathematicians and state test reviewers by finding an unusual way of answering a
math question on the MCAS, a discovery that led to a score boost for hundreds of
test-takers statewide.
In the eyes of state officials, however, Mueller does not
deserve a high school diploma because she has not passed the MCAS. .....
..... Mueller has her future mapped out: She wants to take a year off after high
school to work full time and save money for college. Then she plans to enroll in
a college program that will allow her to pursue a career as an American sign
language interpreter.......
..... Mueller met a friend last year who is hard of hearing and uses sign
language to communicate, spurring Mueller to take an interest in learning to
sign. She enrolled in three sign language classes at the high school, and the
more she learned, the more convinced she became that she wanted to work as an
interpreter.
"I don't want to do a job that's a regular, boring job,"
said Mueller, who now works part time at a video store. "I want to do something
to help people, and I don't want to put the sign language thing on hold because
of the MCAS.".....
For news of these same students as they receive their scores, see:
Quincy Patriot Ledger, 2/27: Devastation, jubilation:
Emotional day for those awaiting MCAS scores
http://www.southofboston.net/specialreports/mcas/update2-27-03.html
and
Quincy Patriot Ledger, 2/28: MCAS preparation and
persistence pay off
http://ledger.southofboston.com/display/inn_news/news03.txt
Metrowest Daily News, 2/27: Milford to challenge MCAS:
School officials plan to give learning disabled students diplomas
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/milf_mcas02282003.htm
MILFORD -- School officials are prepared to challenge the
state Department of Education after learning that six learning disabled students
will be denied their diplomas this June because they failed to pass the
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems alternative test.
"It is immoral to deny these children their diploma,"
School Committee Chairman John Fernandes said last night of the students who
submitted portfolios of their work as an alternative to completing the standard
MCAS tests."These kids deserve their diploma. They completed their education
within the Milford Public School system."
Taking on a "we dare you" attitude, Fernandes and other
members including Jose Costa said they intend to make sure the students get a
diploma. The students would have been awarded diplomas for successfully
completing their education at the Milford Public Schools, if there was no MCAS
requirement.
The students attend Milford High School's Bistro program
and have learning disabilities that prevent them from ever passing the MCAS,
said Fernandes. Instead they are given a "hands-on" type of education in an
alternative learning environment where they learn academics but they also learn
life skills......
...... Because of their limited learning skills, the students were allowed to
take the MCAS alternative assessment which consists of a portfolio of materials
collected by the teacher and student.....
..... Fernandes said that less than 1 percent of the statewide portfolios
reviewed were accepted by the state. The six Milford students portfolios were
among those rejected.....
.... School Superintendent Carol Daring released the results of the December
MCAS retest last night which shows that of the 22 seniors who took the retest,
13 passed. A 14th student who also passed the test has since moved from the
school district.....
Boston Globe, 2/23: Boston students, parents urge delay in
MCAS rule
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/054/learning/Boston_students_parents_urge_delay_in_MCAS_rule+.shtml
..... Amid chants from Boston public school students, parents, and community
leaders, Project Hip-Hop, a community-based youth outreach group, presented
information about the $120 million budget deficit facing the Boston Public
Schools. Such a gap could only hamper efforts to prepare students for the exam,
the demonstrators said, demanding that the test be delayed until the schools
have adequate resources.
''The state has not properly prepared students to take a
high-stakes MCAS exam,'' said Valcine Phiser, 14, a sophomore at Monument High,
one of three schools in the South Boston Educational Complex. ''I think all
students should have the same rights and access to equal education, and that
will only happen when the state realizes that there are problems in the Boston
public school system.''
Janine Quarles - a 15-year-old sophomore at Boston Latin
Academy, one of the city's three exam schools - said she was concerned about the
high number of minority students who may be denied diplomas.
Black and Hispanic students make up about 45 percent of
the 10,500 Massachusetts seniors who have yet to pass the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System exam. But they make up only 8 percent of the
graduating class. .....
This story ran on
page B9 of the Boston Globe on 2/23/2003.
Arlington Advocate, 2/27: [School Committee
member] suggests thumbing nose at standardized test
http://www.townonline.com/arlington/news/local_regional/aa_newaamcas02272003.htm
...... Committee member Martin Thrope asked the rest of the board Tuesday to
stand firm against the standardized test and pass a motion allowing the school
system to give diplomas to students who failed the MCAS, but otherwise met all
school requirements for graduation. The Arlington School Committee was a leader
in the fight against the MCAS exam as a sole graduation requirement and has
spoken out against the idea for the past three years......
..... Thrope's motion read: "Resolved that the Arlington School Committee will
continue to award diplomas to all students who meet local performance standards
based upon multiple assessments as indicated in the Education Reform Act of
1993.".......
..... The wording of the motion was based on language provided by the
Massachusetts Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education. The group sent out
the mock resolution and legal opinion backing its position to school committees
across the state.
However, Thrope's motion was met with an amendment by
committee member Paul Schlichtman to delay any vote on the matter to May 27 -
the last School Committee meeting before graduation.
According to Schlichtman, he offered the motion because
the courts will decide who has final authority in granting diplomas - the
schools or the Department of Education........
Springfield Union-News, 2/17: 110 more [Springfield
students] pass MCAS, but 337 fail
http://www.masslive.com/springfield/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/news-3/104633525025400.xml
.... Burke said 447 seniors took one or both of the tests, and 337 are still
ineligible to earn full diplomas. Burke said he hopes to win appeals for 30 to
40 of those students.
"We've got a bunch more kids over the bar and we're very
happy about. But we still have more that need help," Burke said.
Students will be given their scores tomorrow at their
schools, and those whose efforts were not successful will have counseling
available and have access to information about tutoring and classes for the next
round of tests. ....
.....At Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School, another 57 seniors now
qualify for graduation, or 111 of the 200 in the class, following the latest
retesting. ....
.....
Students will be informed tomorrow. For those who failed,
packets will he handed out with information on tutoring sessions to prepare for
the May retests.
Counselors will be available to talk with the 89 students
who have yet to pass, he said.
"We're going to try to manage the grief here. This is the
toughest one. When they get their grades this time, they'll know whether they're
going to be marching in June," said Goodwin.
"They're going to be real depressed," he added. ....
Springfield Union News, 2/28: MCAS: Sci-Tech, Central
fare best
http://www.masslive.com/springfield/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1046421393312300.xml
.... Thirty percent of the graduating class - 337 of 1,132 seniors - has yet to
pass both the English and the mathematics tests. This is the first year that
passing the tests is a requirement for graduation.
[Supt. Joseph] Burke said he hopes
to whittle the ineligible count down to 25 percent through appeals and the May
retest. Only those who win on appeal will march in graduations this June because
the next round of retests will not be scored until July. ....
.... At Sci-Tech, 88 percent, or 212 of the 242 seniors, have passed English,
and 82 percent, or 199 seniors, have passed mathematics. Both rates are the
highest scored by any city high school. ....
..... Central High School's senior class of 357 students now has 308, or 86
percent, who have passed English, and 80 percent, or 286, who have passed
mathematics.
At the High School of Commerce, there are 268 seniors,
including 223, or 83 percent, who have passed English and 185, or 69 percent,
who have passed mathematics.
At Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School,
there are 200 seniors, including 149, or 75 percent, who have passed English,
and 116, or 58 percent, who have passed mathematics.
Alternative programs had lower passing rates.
In Chicopee, Superintendent Basan N. Nembirkow announced
that nearly all the 132 students who failed the MCAS in the past, passed the
December retest.
Now just 14 of the city's 474 seniors have to pass.
Taunton Gazette, 2/27: [Dighton-Rehoboth] High school
achieves MCAS perfection
http://www.tauntongazette.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1711&dept_id=24238&newsid=7198221&PAG=461&rfi=9
Dighton-Rehoboth
Regional High School received a perfect score on its MCAS report card -- every
senior has now passed the controversial high-stakes test. ....
....Eight seniors re-took the test in
December -- three in English language arts and five in math -- and all of them
passed. D-R Principal Trent Danella delivered the good news to the
Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School Committee Tuesday night.
In addition to those eight students, one student was
granted a waiver by the state after demonstrating that he has a comparable level
of knowledge as peers who passed but is, essentially, a poor test taker, Danella
said.
Boston Globe, 2/26 : MCAS results treated with care by
educators
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/057/metro/MCAS_results_treated_with_care_by_educators+.shtml
They'll break the news in private conference rooms with
counselors on hand, or huddle in a tiny group while scores of students wait
anxiously in line for their own results. Around the state this week, school
officials will start notifying seniors of how they fared on the December MCAS
retest, taking special care with those who failed. .....
..... ''We desperately want to persuade them to stay in school,'' said Susan
Szachowicz, associate principal at Brockton High School, where 212 seniors had
yet to pass both the math and English MCAS before the December retest. ''I'm
really worried about these kids.''.....
.... ''We're all real proud of these kids. They've hung in there. I don't know
how many times I could be told I'd failed something and get back up and try
again,'' said Andrea Lapey, assistant director of curriculum in the Lynn public
schools, where 242 seniors had not passed the MCAS before the December
test......
.... [I]n Boston, seniors who don't pass the December retest will receive a
brochure describing their options. Headmasters are working on plans to deal with
each student, from providing academic guidance to moral support. Each West
Roxbury High School student will be assigned to a classmate who passed the test.
The school also purchased cellphones for every guidance counselor to be able to
call parents at night......
..... Officials at Dorchester High School said they expect most of the 100
students who took the retest in December will pass. But they're still concerned
about how to talk to students who don't......
This story ran on
page B1 of the Boston Globe on 2/26/2003.
Springfield Union News, 2/ : Chicopee seniors
triumph over MCAS
http://www.masslive.com/news/unionnews/index.ssf?/base/news-3/104633476825400.xml
CHICOPEE - Another 116 high school seniors have now
passed the MCAS graduation requirement, leaving just a handful ineligible for
diplomas this spring.
School administrators last night announced preliminary
results of a re-test juniors and seniors took in December.
Now just 16 of the city's 474 high school seniors have
not passed the exam.....
Waltham Daily News Tribune, 2/27: Class requirements cut
into recess time
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/local_regional/walt_recess02272003.htm
WALTHAM - Although they are obligated to teach academic
requirements in compliance with state-mandated instructional time, all while
preparing students for standardized testing, the question on the lips of
educators last night was simply: "What about recess?"
In order to gain more learning time, recess was
eliminated in the Waltham School System in 2000 once a week, on the day physical
education is scheduled for grades 1-5. According to district administrators,
this was done to address ongoing educational needs. Feeling the pressures of the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and standard performance on the MCAS,
principals and directors did away with recess once a week.
In some school systems, recess has been eliminated
completely. For some elementary students in Waltham, recess is offered four days
a week for 30 minute intervals.
School Committee member Michael O'Halloran, said that the
disappearance of recess has become an alarming trend, not only in Waltham but
also across the state. According to O'Halloran, dozens of parents and teachers
have approached him with concerns about recess in schools.....
Boston Globe, 2/26: Education department mailing had a
'typo'
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/057/metro/Education_Dept_mailing_had_a_typo_P.shtml
When the first batch of seniors was granted waivers of
the MCAS graduation requirement, the state Department of Education mailed out
congratulatory certificates in which the word ''mathematics'' was spelled
incorrectly.
State education officials said this week that the
documents, which were sent Jan. 2 to districts to distribute to students'
families, contained ''a typo.''
''This is simply a result of the fact that we wanted to
get the good news out as quickly as possible and our staff didn't notice it,''
department spokeswoman Heidi B. Perlman said......
...... The misspelled certificates were meant for 158 students who were awarded
waivers of the math requirement in the first appeals round in December.
This story ran on page B4 of the Boston
Globe on 2/26/2003.
Berkshire Eagle, 2/28: Courageous stand by BHRSD
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~6268~1210538,00.html
..... Despite the fact that Department of Education spokeswoman Heidi Perlman
said that such an action would be breaking the law, Steve Bannon, the articulate
chairman of the school committee, said that, "We knew the state was against it
[granting diplomas without meeting MCAS requirements], but our position is that
the state can be wrong . . ." Now that takes guts, and I wish that more school
systems would follow his lead.
.... Monument Mountain Regional High School was acclaimed as a Blue Ribbon
School, in part because students' learning is consistently tested by an
outstanding faculty with high standards. Diplomas have been awarded based on
students satisfying those standards. The fact is that recent studies have shown
that standardized tests like the MCAS tests are not authentic evaluation
instruments and not only do they not test student learning, but have done little
to improve teaching and learning. In fact, they have even been shown to have a
negative effect on teaching and learning.....
--- ROSELLE K. CHARTOCK, North Adams
Berkshire Eagle, 2/28: Others should follow lead of BHRSD
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~6268~1210543,00.html
..... The Davids in our communities must stand up to the Goliaths of the
bureaucrats. The practices of the state Department of Education have been and
continue to be deceptive and duplicitous. They harm and punish students for
life.....
.... As Margaret Mead stated, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever
has." The Berkshire Regional Hills School District has uncommon courage. Its
quest to do the right thing for all the students of the commonwealth sets an
exemplary model for other communities to follow.
---JOAN SAMUELS KAISER, Becket
Berkshire Eagle, 2/27: Revealing numbers on MCAS
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101%257E6268%257E1207793,00.html
..... [Scott] Lehigh notes the state education department reported that the
dropout rate for the class of 2003 -- from the end of their junior year to the
beginning of their senior year -- has decreased. This, to him, is evidence that
the pressure of MCAS has not caused students to drop out. He neglects to report
that the dropout rate for the class of 2003 from the end of their ninth grade
year to now has increased over previous classes and that the ninth grade dropout
rate for the class of 2004 has risen even higher.....
.... There were 77,733 students enrolled in ninth grade in October 1999, but
only 60,781 are now enrolled in 12th grade.....
.... Lehigh also described how well Massachusetts' students were scoring on the
SAT and the NAEP exams as evidence of the beneficial effect of MCAS. What a
distortion! Massachusetts' students were top achievers on these and other
national and international tests before MCAS came into existence. Standardized
tests are very limited (and often quite distorting) in what they can measure
about student learning. The fact that the reported low achievement levels of our
students on the Massachusetts-only MCAS tests don't correspond to the high
levels of our students on these other standardized tests is one of the reasons
many of us have questioned the motivation of the MCAS promoters.
--- PAT EVANS, Williamstown
Boston Globe, 3/1/02: Some buyers head for the
(Ashburnham) hills
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/060/realestate/Some_buyers_head_for_the_Ashburnham_hills+.shtml
....''I'm seeing first-time buyers who are priced out of Worcester and the route
495 area,'' said Susan Laakso, a realtor at Re/Max Property Promotions. ''They
tell me a $500,000 home where they came from costs $150,000 in town. That's a
big incentive to move here.''....
.... In last year's MCAS tests for public school students, most fourth-graders
scored in the ''need improvement'' or ''failed'' categories in English and math.
A majority of 10th-graders were ranked ''advanced'' or ''proficient.''.....
This story ran on page D11 of the Boston
Globe on 3/1/2003.
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