Education Alliance and Parents CARE Call for Broader Public Input and Accountability for Education Policy Proposals

In response to education policy proposals presented to legislators by MassInsight, state business representatives and their allies, a coalition of state organizations together with ParentsCARE! called on lawmakers to listen and respond to a broader range of views on how to proceed with education reform.

"As members of the Alliance for High Standards NOT High Stakes, a coalition of more than 50 organizations opposed to the use of MCAS as a graduation requirement, and the Parents Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education (ParentsCARE), a parents' group, we are deeply concerned about 'closed door' education policy presentations by members of the business community," said Ruth Kaplan, Alliance chair and member of the Brookline School Committee. "We encourage legislators to quickly follow up such a one-sided presentation by seeking public input from important constituencies including public school parents, students and teachers," said Marilyn Segal, Director of Citizens for Public Schools.

The Alliance and ParentsCARE are concerned that more than a decade after the Education Reform Act of 1993 was passed in response to educational equity concerns, Massachusetts faces a persistent race-based achievement gap and districts are still failing to fulfill their constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education, according to Superior Court Judge Margot Botsford. We conclude that the overwhelming emphasis on MCAS has not been a healthy or effective method for addressing educational inequity

Business leaders cite a 96 percent MCAS passing rate as a signal that it's time to move on, raise standards and lift up persistently failing schools. As Professor Gerald Bracey of George Mason University writes, however, the 96 percent figure is an example of "lying with statistics." It fails to acknowledge the many students, mostly minority and low-income, who dropped out of school, were retained in grade, or switched to GED programs because they were tired of repeatedly failing the MCAS or too discouraged to try again. When all students who started out in 9th grade are considered, Massachusetts' graduation rate falls to 71 percent. It is lower still for poor, black and Hispanic youth. One in three Hispanic students and one in four African Americans did not reach the 10th grade to take the latest MCAS exam.

The groups believe that rather than use the pending state Supreme Court decision on school funding as an excuse to raise the cutoff scores on the MCAS, the state should declare a moratorium on the graduation test until all schools have been adequately funded for a sufficient time to enable all students to attain high levels of achievement.

"How will plans to add science as a graduation requirement and to raise the passing score on the MCAS affect pass rates in low-income, minority communities?" asked Dr. Jonathan King, Professor of Molecular Biology at M.I.T. and a member of CARE. As a college science professor, King says he is concerned that continued overemphasis on preparing students for the MCAS will make students less prepared for college level science work. "Standardized tests ensure the rigid, superficial forms of instruction that fail to deepen skills, comprehension, or scientific literacy," he said.

CARE member Lisa Guisbond sees little attention given to the effects of high-stakes testing on disabled students. "How will plans to place a high school diploma further out of reach of struggling students with disabilities affect their motivation to continue the difficult work of keeping up in school?" Guisbond asked. "Can legislators and policymakers make reasonable and constructive choices if they disregard all information except for the limited and misleadingly rosy MCAS pass rate statistics disseminated by the Massachusetts Department of Education?"

While urban superintendents have an important perspective to add to the discussion, they are not proxies for urban parents and students, who have been promised accountability from their schools but continue to see their children's futures limited by inadequate educational resources and the overemphasis on MCAS. A recent public forum on No Child Left Behind and MCAS, put on by the Rennie Center and the Public Education Network, included views from many urban and rural parents that did not jibe with the public relations picture painted by proponents of the high-stakes MCAS. True accountability must include access to the debate for parents, teachers and students, not just business leaders, members of both groups said.