MCAS in the news (6/17 - 7/1)

News from the past two weeks reports that the DOE and Gov's office are working overtime to release 2001 MCAS questions
on the DOE website, lobby legislators, and push Harcourt to get results of multiple choice questions for 10th grade out to the
districts next week. Also, MCAS summer prep programs begin, students who failed MCAS go to college, and there's
continuing impact from MCAS on student and teacher morale. The Lowell Sun reports that districts may receive 10th grade
reading and math scores within the next week. There's also a report that MCAS retests will be given only to students in 11th
grade, without explanation of where this leave the many urban (and others in Greenfield, Winchendon, and Southbridge)
students retained in 10th grade. Finally, if you can't get a high school diploma in Massachusetts, there's still a Ph.D. wait for
you -- for a fee.


Lowell Sun, 7/1: School districts may receive MCAS results within week
http://www.lowellsun.com/S-ASP-BIN/REF/Index.ASP?PUID=1691&Indx=952178

MCAS results from the 10th-grade math and English multiple choice exams were expected to be sent to the Department of
Education by Federal Express this weekend, giving schools the chance to target students who performed poorly.
Jason Kauppi, a spokesman for Gov. Jane Swift, said the administration has been pressing the testing company to get
results back sooner. In previous years, results have not been available until the fall. Kauppi said the department will "crunch the
numbers" during the next several days and send individual student scores to districts the week of July 9. 
"It's not going to give them a complete picture but it does give districts an idea of what students did poorly," Kauppi said. ....
.... Kauppi said multiple- choice test answers will be available soon, but results of open-ended and essay questions won't be
available until the fall. 
Education officials have been prodding Harcourt Educational Measurement of San Antonio, the testing company, to get the
results sooner than previous years. Board of Education Chairman James Peyser said state officials have been working with
Harcourt for months hoping to get results sooner. Harcourt, which had won the state testing contract in January 2000,
promised a faster turnaround of grades and lower prices than the previous company.....


Boston Globe, Learning section, 7/1: Vo-tech schools dispute MCAS
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/182/learning/Vo_tech_schools_dispute_MCAS+.shtml

[BILLERICA] - Dan Shanahan is on his way to fulfilling his dream of being a scientist. 
The 17-year-old Tewksbury senior at Shawsheen Valley Vocational Technical High School was accepted to the University
of Maine's biology program after earning straight A's in the vo-tech's health and technology program. 
Shanahan also is among the thousands of students who didn't pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System
exam when it wasn't a graduation requirement. 
''I wouldn't be going on to college at the end of this year if I had to pass MCAS,'' Shanahan said. ''I know I'd be here still
trying to decipher Shakespeare or something else I never studied.'' ....
.... Advocates for vocational schools insist the MCAS requirement would devastate the graduation rate for the 1 million
students who attend vo-tech schools. 
''These kids are artisans, not linguists,'' said Charles Lyons, superintendent of Shawsheen, one of the state's largest
vocational schools. Only 9 percent of the school's sophomores passed the 2000 MCAS, he said. 
''When it rains and you need a plumber, he won't be there because he wasn't able to come up with the right meaning of
some poem about walking lonely on a cloud,'' he said....
.... But state education officials say vo-tech students should be able to pass MCAS to graduate. Two years ago, the test
included a math question on wrench sizes and about 85 percent of vo-tech students got it wrong, said Jonathan Palumbo, a
state Department of Education spokesman. 
MCAS, Palumbo said, tests basic math and English skills that all trade school students must learn. He also said the test is not
as demanding as some critics claim....
.... Andrew Botticelli, a computer technologies teacher at Shawsheen, said his students study three-dimensional modeling,
computer-aided design, geometric construction, and other applied mathematics. Or they learn to size a gasket, design a diesel
engine, or calculate moments of inertia. 
''I would like to see students in academic high school pass an MCAS test on these subjects,'' Botticelli said. ''Vo-tech
students simply don't learn math the same way students in traditional high schools do, so it's not right to rate their knowledge
with the same test.'' 
In Massachusetts, state education officials are considering offering a ''certificate of proficiency'' to vo-tech students,
Palumbo said, to show students have been tested in their particular field and have satisfied all other high school requirements. 
''It basically shows the student came to school every day, met all the local requirements to complete high school, but didn't
get a diploma,'' Palumbo said. 
But Greene said students with such a certificate - but no diploma - cannot enroll in the US armed services, a community
college, or labor unions. 
''Instead of helping make sure these kids get the $15-an-hour job they're at least certain to get, the DOE is making sure they
get the $6-an-hour paying job,'' Greene said. 
Palumbo stressed it was the business industry that pushed for stronger standards. But not all businesses agree a
standardized test is useful. 
Kevin Cote, major accounts manager for Sysco Systems, the largest US distributor and marketer of food and food service
products, said vo-tech students help fill some 500,000 jobs in the field with entry-level salaries of $35,000 to $45,000. 
His company recruits them by offering a one-year certification program through the trade school. ''If they have a Sysco
certificate and a high school diploma,'' Cote said, ''we don't really care whether or not they passed MCAS.'' 
This story ran on page 9 of the Boston Globe on 7/1/2001.


Boston Globe, North Weekly, 7/1: Teens earn GED in new program
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/182/north/Lessons_drawn_from_Malden_River+.shtml

.... Catholic Charities North developed the programs to meet a need for teen-specific GED preparation, [program director of
the Catholic Charities Education Center Fran] Troutman said. 
''We thought there was an existing need. We weren't sure, with MCAS, whether there might be a growing need,'' she said,
noting that low Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test scores might prompt more high school students to drop
out.... 


Lowell Sun, 6/29: MCAS retest set for December
http://www.lowellsun.com/S-ASP-Bin/Ref/Index.ASP?puid=1697&spuid=1697&Indx=950297&Article=ON&id=65262479&ro=13

Students who need to retake the MCAS exam will have their first chance in December. But school districts won't know
who those students are until October.
While preliminary data showing how students fared on certain questions will be released to districts in September, the
official individual and school scores won't be ready until October, said Jan O'Keefe, executive director of the Commissioner of
Education's Office.
"It takes so much time to tally everything up and get the data exact," she said.....
.... Only those students, who will be juniors this fall, will be allowed to retake the exam. Students will have up to four chances
to retake it....
.... "The December test will be a more focused test. This is not going to be an easy test," O'Keefe said. "It's just going to filter
out the advanced and proficient level questions."
The next retest option after December's will be next spring, following the same schedule as the regular MCAS exam, she
said.
The preliminary results from this spring's third-grade reading test are being sent out to schools now. 


Lawrence Eagle Tribune, 6/29: [No. Andover] schools: We need $200 million
http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20010629/FP_003.htm

.... Upgrading school computers and networking systems was just one piece of [Superintendent] Dr. [William E.] Allen's vision
for the future of the town's public schools -- a vision he presented this week as a starting point for the town's new financial task
force, a group charged with developing a five-year plan this summer and presenting it to Town Meeting in the fall. 
What he did not say out loud to the School Committee and a group of parents were the costs involved. 
In a report provided to The Eagle-Tribune, the superintendent's projections show that the town would have to increase its
current school spending by 78 percent over five years. 
More specifically, that means the town would need to support a 15 percent increase next year, or $32.3 million school
budget; a 10 percent increase in 2003, or $36.1 million budget; a 10 percent increase in 2004, or $40 million budget; a 9
percent increase in 2005, or $43.9 million budget; and a 10 percent increase in 2006, or $48.7 million budget, according to
Dr. Allen's projections....
.... Dr. Allen also spoke of providing full-day kindergarten across the district, spending more money on art, music and athletic
programs and giving teachers more opportunities for professional development. 
That, he said, is what it is going to take for North Andover to be an "excellent school system," or in the top 15 percent of
the state, in areas such as the state's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests, SATs, college acceptances,
pupil to teacher ratios and course offerings.....


Daily Hampshire Gazette, 6/28: Tears and joy fill one school 
http://www.gazettenet.com/06282001/schools/3656.htm

.....Maginnis, who has taught at the school since 1973, said teaching her fourth-graders was especially satisfying.....
Still, the growing stress of the job convinced her the time to leave was now.....
Maginnis, who is taking early retirement, said the current flap over MCAS testing played a large role in her decision. "The
MCAS is one of the reasons I'm leaving, because of the pressure it puts on the kids and everyone else. And we don't even
have the right materials to teach for it," she said.
Maginnis said she plans to continue to teach at the Smith/Northampton Summer School...


Christian Science Monitor, 6/26: 'No' is not an options for teens seeking to talk with education officials 
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/06/26/fp12s1-csm.shtml

Boston's annual Teen Empowerment Youth Peace Conference is about airing the issues, speaking up, and communicating
with adults about what is going on in urban teens' lives. So when state education officials didn't show up last month after being
invited to meet with students concerned about education in the city, participants were predictably disappointed. 
But the students persisted - and last week, succeeded in getting the officials to sit down with them to discuss everything
from the state of the schools to the controversial state graduation exam (MCAS)..... 
The gathering began innocuously enough. Students from Boston high schools exchanged icebreakers with Commissioner of
Education David Driscoll, Board of Education Chair James Peyser, and Department of Education Director of Standards
Jeffrey Nellhaus. But as they moved into contentious territory like the underresourcing of urban schools and high-stakes testing,
tension filled the tight space..... 
.... Students at the meeting compared their schools to suburban counterparts, pushing the need for smaller classes, new
buildings, and more resources -including, in some cases, enough books to go around. 
Some of the responses met with resentment. "Part of the problem is keeping up with vandalism," Driscoll said to claims
about dilapidated buildings. 
Demetrius didn't appreciate what he read as an attempt to shift blame onto students: "Vandalism doesn't make a building a
hundred years old."......


Boston Globe, South Weekly, 6/24: Luring students to summer school; To fill MCAS classes, some systems resort to
prizes, field trips, and more
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/175/south/Luring_students_to_summer_school+.shtml

.... Gail Murphy, who coordinates Quincy's MCAS summer school for eighth-, ninth- and 10th-graders, will be handing out
thousands of dollars worth of ''fabulous'' gifts, including televisions, CD players, tennis rackets, and hand-blown glass jewelry
to students dedicated enough to attend the voluntary classes, starting July 2. All the prizes are provided by 100 local business
partners; younger students are eligible for Pawtucket Red Sox and behind-the-scenes-at-Fenway trips. 
''It would be nice if they did it for love of learning, but we're not there yet in this culture. So a little bribery goes a long
way,'' said Murphy, who plans to wear a Santa Claus hat during MCAS summer school. ''These kids are there because they
can't do math, so it is torture for them.'' 
Getting students back into classrooms to hone English and math skills rather than go to the beach is a tough sell, but with
passing the MCAS now a requirement for graduation, more public school districts are using creative techniques to fill their
MCAS summer school classes. Some are resorting to gifts, parties, and field trips - with mixed results.....
.... But bribery hasn't worked as well for other schools. In the Silver Lake Regional School District, despite incentives such as
pizza and ice cream parties, only 25 of the 222 seventh- and ninth-graders invited to MCAS summer school inititally enrolled.
As in other systems, students are ''invited'' by the school based on grades, previous MCAS or other standardized scores, or
teacher recommendation. 
After administrators extended the enrollment period, another 26 students signed on to the program, which has room for 120
and starts tomorrow. That is a disappointment to officials at Silver Lake, which includes students from Pembroke, Kingston,
Plympton, and Halifax....
.... Randolph, whose program begins tomorrow, fills its allotment by accepting higher and higher-level students until the MCAS
program is filled, if students most at risk of failure choose not to enroll, as was the case this year. The result is that while many
students close to passing the MCAS will be boning up this summer, most of the students in need of the most help will not....
.... In the Old Rochester Regional School District, with students from Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester, MCAS
remediation is integrated into a Summer Adventures In Learning enrichment program and in a computer-based program called
Nova Net, which begin July 9. Because classes include both students in need of remediation and the brightest students, there is
no stigma attached, said Carol Young, Old Rochester assistant superintendent. Children are not even aware they are brushing
up on MCAS skills in such classes as ''Young Einstein,'' ''Physics Fun,'' and ''The Amazing Writing Machine,'' she said. 
''We'll do anything to try to capture the interest of the children so that they come and they think they are coming just to
have fun,'' said Young, who said 340 students are enrolled....
... In Mansfield, about 20 students in grades 7, 8, and 9 who did not perform well on the math and English portions of MCAS
will pay tuition for five weeks of remediation this summer. In addition, about 100 students in grades one through six will take
part in a free program funded by the state. Both programs fill up without any added incentives, said Superintendent John
Moretti....


Boston Herald, 6/21: Lawmakers hear MCAS overhaul arguments
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/mcas06212001.htm

A crack appeared yesterday in the armor of support for the MCAS exam, as lawmakers heard testimony about more than
two dozen bills designed to alter or abolish the high-stakes testing program. 
At least two high-profile backers of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System acknowledged scenarios that
could require either a transition period or pushing back the 2003 deadline that high schoolers pass the exam in order to
graduate. 
Staunch education reform supporter Boston Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant agreed that the system may require major
changes, but urged lawmakers to hold off on any overhaul until schools get the results of the 2001 exam and the results of the
first ``re-test'' for students who failed their 10th-grade exam. 
But he acknowledged schools have a long way to go to get students to meet the ambitious standards set by MCAS,
especially in math. ``I wouldn't be suprised if there isn't a need to revisit the (2003) timeline on mathematics,'' Payzant said in
response to questioning from state Rep. Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge), co-sponsor of a bill to suspend the graduation
requirement.
Paul Reville, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, said the state may need to invoke a
``transition system'' for several years to ease into high-stakes....


Boston Globe, 6/21: Foes, supporters speak out on MCAS
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/172/metro/Foes_supporters_speak_out_on_MCAS+.shtml

.... MCAS opponents said it isn't right to judge students based on the results of a single test, especially since schools are just
beginning to improve after eight years of education reform. The test might be a useful diagnostic tool, they said, but it shouldn't
be a graduation requirement - at least not yet. 
MCAS supporters countered that using the test as a graduation requirement is the only way to spur improvement and raise
standards. For too long, they said, Massachusetts high schools have granted diplomas to students who don't have the basic
skills to succeed in college or at work....
.... ''I'm just so worried about what this is going to do to his dream of getting into college,'' Weymouth mother Joyce Sullivan
said of her 10th-grade son, who is dyslexic. 
John Barnes, a Boston bilingual teacher who wore an anti-MCAS button, said the test ''is not indicative of what the kids
know.'' ......
This story ran on page B2 of the Boston Globe on 6/21/2001.


APwire, Berkshire Eagle, 6/21: MCAS critics change angle of opposition
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/S-ASP-Bin/Ref/Index.asp?puid=8801

.... "We can have high standards . . . without subjecting our children and our schools to the pitfalls of high-stakes tests," said bill
sponsor state Sen. Cynthia Creem, D-Newton.
MCAS supporters say the bill would water down the landmark 1993 Education Reform Act by removing the test as an
incentive to students and teachers to try harder.
Requiring students to pass the MCAS will help the state keep its promise of top quality education for all children, said
James Peyser, chairman of the state Board of Education.
"We don't have a testing problem in this state, we have an education problem," Peyser said....
.... MCAS supporters, including acting Gov. Jane Swift and state Sen. Robert Antonioni, senate chairman of the Education
Committee, say the state has to stand firm, even as students face the possibility of not receiving diplomas.
Antonioni, D-Leominster, said adult illiteracy rates should spur lawmakers into keeping the high standards for children to
make sure they don't run into the same trouble.
Businesses also back the test. A survey by Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state's largest business association,
found most employers rated young workers' preparation as "fair" or "poor."
But those on the front lines, the students themselves, say the test is unfair....
.... "Education is supposed to be about preparation for life," [Rahel Ayalew, 16, [who] is going into her senior year at
Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School] said. "Education is changing to just preparation for the MCAS."


Worcester Telegram, 6/21: Caradonio says, gives tests time
http://www.telegram.com/news/page_one/nmcas.html

..... While critics say the tests are unfair to many students and an inadequate measurement of academic achievement, MCAS
supporters see them as a way to raise school standards and better prepare students for the work world....
.... “What we have learned about MCAS is that rich kids do better than poor kids, and white kids do better than minority
kids,” said Rep. Ruth B. Balser, a Newton Democrat who represents Brookline, which scores high on the tests. “Let's use it to
support kids, not to punish them.”....
.... One of these urban school administrators, Worcester School Superintendent James A. Caradonio, pleaded to wait until
2003, when the first high school students will need to have passed the MCAS to graduate, before deciding anything.
“It is too premature to pull the plug,” Mr. Caradonio said, adding that school officials have many methods at their disposal
to help students pass the test on a second or third try.....
.... “If we revoke the MCAS standards and tell students they don't need to know basic math, if we tell them they don't know
how to read and write and communicate with colleagues on the job, then we're dooming them to a future without rewarding
jobs,” Michael C. Ruettgers, executive chairman of EMC Corp., the Hopkinton-based computer firm, told the committee.
But for every proponent of the tests, someone else expressed just as committed opposition.
“No single test is ever good enough, accurate enough or comprehensive enough to give a true measure of what a student
knows and is able to do,” said Stephen E. Gorrie, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Kathleen Rhoades, a researcher from Leominster who is working on a Ph.D, testified that her daughter, a sophomore at
Leominster High School, was ill-prepared for the MCAS because of a substandard school library and classroom
overcrowding.
“What will you say to the thousands of children who fail this test when you know that they were not given the support that
they needed to pass it?” she asked the committee members. 







Metrowest Daily News, 6/21: Test backers standing firm after hearings
http://www.townonline.com/18048151.htm

..... Among those defending the test yesterday were chief executives from some of the state’s largest companies.
Michael Ruettgers, executive chairman of Hopkinton-based EMC Corp., said the MCAS is the best tool business leaders
have seen yet to boost student performance.
" Without MCAS, we think the commonwealth will continue to give diplomas to students who can’t read adequately, who
can’t write adequately, and who do not have the skills to succeed in the workplace, " he said.
EMC, which has 9,000 employees in Massachusetts, frequently has to look outside the region for qualified workers,
Ruettgers said.
" We are not able to get qualified people now, and we think if we don’t do something, we will become even more reliant
on imported labor, " he said.
Peter Nicholas, chairman of the Natick-based Boston Scientific Corp., urged lawmakers to stick with the test until it has been
given a chance to work.
Dubbing the state’s financial engine a " knowledge economy, " Nicholas said its success in coming years may depend on
having a well-educated workforce.
" Our other alternative is to shift operations around the world, and go elsewhere for qualified workers, " he said.



Lowell Sun, 6/19: MCAS: Let the studying begin; state schools chief urges students to start preparing for 2001
http://www.lowellsun.com/S-ASP-BIN/REF/Index.ASP?PUID=1691&Indx=933272

.... Education Commissioner David Driscoll urged parents and students to use the questions to help prepare for the 2002
MCAS.
"I think it's very valuable information and it should be used as practice," Driscoll said at a press conference held at the
DOE's headquarters. "I don't know that I'd sit a kid down and make him go through the whole test in one sitting. What we've
given you today is the kind of questions that reflects our expectations for the students of the commonwealth."....
.... Driscoll said MCAS detractors are "wrong-minded."
"To people who say it shouldn't be a graduation requirement, I say, 'Well, what should we do?' We have got to make sure
these kids have the skills."
Driscoll said there are 667,000 people in the state's work force today who lack basic skills, yet have their high school
diplomas.....
.... One question for 10th-graders asked students to explain how Mark Twain's quote, "Make your vocation your vacation,"
relates to an accompanying excerpt from a magazine article. Others were complex math problems, for which they were
permitted to use a calculator.
One question on this year's test -- referring to deceased President James Madison -- printed the wrong answer, calling him
"John Madison."


AP wire, Cape Cod Times, 6/19: State officials release MCAS questions
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/mcasrelease19.htm

Also see, AP wire New Bedford Standard-Times, 6/19: Education officials release 2001 test questions
http://www.s-t.com/daily/06-01/06-19-01/a03sr018.htm
.... The state Education Department posted hundreds of questions from the 2001 MCAS test on its Web site yesterday, three
months earlier than in the past. 
Education Commissioner David Driscoll encouraged parents and students to get a head start on the 2002 test. 
"If I were a ninth-grade kid, I'd gobble the thing up," said Driscoll. "If I were a parent, I'd sit down with my kid and say,
'Can you do this?"'....
.... MCAS critics say it's not the reporting of the test questions that poses the problem. 
"This doesn't erase the larger problem, which is using the test to determine who graduates or not," said Hartkey. FairTest
opposes use of the MCAS as the sole criterion for graduation.....
.... Between 400 and 500 questions from the 2001 MCAS were posted yesterday. Students took the exam the last two weeks
of May, and results are expected in mid-October. 


Quincy Patriot Ledger, 6/10: A matter of degrees: Anybody can get a Ph.D.; Diploma mills thriving on the Internet 
http://www.ledger.southofboston.com/display/inn_news/news03.txt

Christopher Knight had a way to beat the "exorbitant costs" of an advanced education. 
Glencullen University of Dublin, Ireland, he told one recent caller, would issue him a degree for $2,400 based on "life
experience." The student would not have to take classes or provide credentials, he said, and could choose a graduation date
and grade point average....
Schools that want to be recognized by the state must meet the standards of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.
The University of Phoenix, the largest private university in the nation, became the first college offering online courses to meet
those requirements. It did so after providing a great deal of information to state education officials and establishing a physical
presence in Braintree....
.... But there's no way to stop an Internet-based school from reaching students in the state. 
"We can't regulate against something that comes in over the Internet," said Judith Gill, chancellor of higher education. "There's
no way we can say that this institution can't offer courses over the Internet to people sitting at a computer in Massachusetts."...