MCAS: Making the Massachusetts Dropout Crisis Worse
“I think a lot of people are going to drop out if they fail this test. If
they feel they’re not going to make it to college, why bother trying?”
- Lacy Langevin, New Bedford High School, Class of 2003
“We’ll have a graduating class of 10.”
- Crissy Rodrigues, New Bedford High School, Class of 2003
A cloud hangs over many Massachusetts students. Beginning with the
Class of 2003, all students must pass the state’s high stakes test -
MCAS - in order to graduate. Based on patterns emerging from other states,
Massachusetts dropout rates - already too high - are about to get
worse. With 33% of the state’s Latino students and 24% of the state’s
African American students entering ninth grade at risk for dropping out
before graduation, many schools and districts now face a crisis of growing
proportions.
Massachusetts dropout patterns paint a picture of growing gaps between the
educational “haves” and “have nots.” Those who face the
greatest challenges in life are increasingly at risk of leaving school with
less formal schooling.
High-stakes testing betrays the most vulnerable students in the
Commonwealth. Far from fixing the problem of students who graduate without
skills, linking MCAS scores to graduation threatens to push the most
vulnerable students out of school altogether. As MCAS policies narrow
opportunity for individual students, they also jeopardize the future welfare
of students’ communities.
What do we know about the Massachusetts dropout picture in the era of MCAS?
Higher dropout rates are a predictable consequence of high stakes testing.
African American, Latino, and urban students, already dramatically
over-represented among students who both drop out and fail MCAS, bear the
greatest cost of such testing.
As MCAS testing fuels higher grade retention rates, students are already
dropping out earlier in their high school years, with dropout numbers rising
in the middle grades.
While students already at risk are most endangered, many good students who
work hard, pass their courses, and aspire to post-secondary education - but
who fail MCAS - will join the ranks of school dropouts.
As more students leave school with less education, and as fewer reenroll in
school, entire communities will need to address the needs of a growing
population of young adults whose levels of educational attainments exclude
them from many employment and educational opportunities.
While MCAS drives more students out of school, lack of state funding and the
absence of leadership for dropout prevention constitute an abandonment of
the state’s most vulnerable students and their schools.
When large numbers of students already conclude that “school is not for
me,” what are the chances that the threat of withholding a diploma will
bully similarly vulnerable students into higher test scores and turn them
into “graduates with skills?”
Widening gaps, growing vulnerability
In the 1998-99 school year, 9,188 Massachusetts students dropped out of
school. According to the Massachusetts Department of Education’s
annual reports, “Dropout Rates in Massachusetts Public Schools,” this is
the highest number of students dropping out since 1993. Overall, the
Department of Education (DOE) projects that 14% of the Class of 2002 will
drop out before graduation.
Multi-year trends are clear: As those students most likely to attend schools
with fewest resources for learning encounter a policy that requires
particular MCAS scores for graduation, many will turn away from school
earlier in their high school careers. Analysis of data available in DOE
reports highlights a growing problem for the state overall and particular
districts.
African American and Latino students are dramatically over-represented among
dropouts in Massachusetts. Although only 17% of
Massachusetts students in grades 9-12 are Latino or African American, 40% of
those dropping out of school are Latino or African American. In
1998-99, Latino students made up 9% of all the state’s students enrolled
in grades 9-12 but represented 24% of all dropouts. African American
students made up 8% of students enrolled in grades 9-12 but comprised 16% of
all dropouts.
Among students who drop out, the proportion of Latino and African American
students is growing. Although the population of Latino and African American
students in Massachusetts high schools has consistently remained at 17% for
four years, the percentage of Latino and African American students
represented in the dropout population has increased. In 1995-96 and 1996-97,
Latino and African American students already comprised 34% of all dropouts.
This percentage rose to 36% in 1997-98. By 1999, 40% of the dropouts were
Latino and African American.
Among students who drop out, the proportion of students dropping out with
less than a 9th grade education is increasing. In 1995-96, 1996-97,
and 1997-98, 23% of dropouts left school in 9th grade. By 1999, 25% of the
state’s dropouts came from the ninth grade. The state does not include the
number of students dropping out before reaching high school in its official
reports. However, data obtained for particular high risk urban schools
indicate growing numbers of students are leaving school with less than a
ninth grade education.
The percentage of 9th grade dropouts who reenroll in school is declining.
Students who leave school in ninth grade are increasingly out of school for
good. In 1995-96, 21% of 9th grade dropouts reenrolled in school; in
1996-97, 15% reenrolled; in 1997-98, 16% reenrolled. By 1999, only 14% of
9th graders who dropped out reenrolled in school.
Students from urban districts comprise a disproportionate number of the
state’s high school dropouts, and the percentage of dropouts from a
small number of urban communities is growing. Boston, Springfield,
Worcester, New Bedford, Lowell, and Lawrence together consistently
enroll 15% of all the state’s high schools students. In 1996-97, 32% of
all dropouts came from these districts; 1997-98, 35% of all dropouts from
grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 came from these districts. By 1999, 39% of all
dropouts came from these six districts. Of all the 1999 dropouts, 18.4%
came from Boston alone, up from 15% in 1996. Half (51%) of Massachusetts
dropouts now come from only 14 districts, mostly urban.
As thousands of students receive “Failing” MCAS scores, the “holding
power” schools offer the most vulnerable students is stretched to the
breaking point. In the face of dwindling hope they will pass MCAS, fewer
dropouts will return to school. With no state resources available for
dropout prevention, entire communities inherit a set of social problems that
persist for years to come.
Faced with “Failing” MCAS scores, many good students who play by the
rules, pass their courses, and contribute to their schools begin to
doubt their academic identity and ability to complete high school, let alone
post-secondary education.
Allyson is 16, an energetic sports-lover and B+ student at her local high
school, with a special drive to succeed in school. “My brother
dropped out, and my sister, too. I want to be the first person in my family
to graduate from high school,” she says.
By all accounts, Allyson will realize her dream and graduate in 2002 with an
admirable academic and extracurricular record. Enrolled in
her school’s “high level” classes in English and History in her
sophomore year, she earned “A”s on specific assignments and maintained
an
overall “B+” average. A passionate athlete, she is a disciplined runner.
A regular volunteer at her local shelter for homeless adults, she also
works at the local shopping mall every other weekend and during the summer.
She aims for a college degree and imagines herself as an
entrepreneur, managing her own day care center or auto repair business.
Allyson has taken MCAS twice, in eighth and tenth grades. Despite her record
as a good student, she says, “I thought about dropping out
around the time we took MCAS [in May 2000]. If the test counted for me to
graduate, like it’s going to this year, I probably would have. But
I knew if I could just get through those hours of testing, it would be over,
and I wouldn’t have to think about it again.”
Although her MCAS scores will not “count” for graduation, Allyson takes
MCAS very seriously. Three months into her ninth grade, Allyson
received her grade 8 scores: “Needs Improvement” (230) in English,
“Failing” (200) in Math. That year, her school assigned her and others
who had “failed” in eighth grade to daily “MCAS classes” where each
quarter’s curriculum focused on a different section of the MCAS.
Allyson put a lot of faith in these classes: She says, “I worked so hard
for my MCAS classes, I spent a lot of time in the library, hoping to do
well on the test.” As of September 2000, she has not yet received her
scores, but she says, “I’m fairly certain that I failed at least one
section.”
Allyson is thankful that her class is not the first for whom MCAS scores
will “count” toward graduation. “A lot of students who don’t pass
MCAS are going to drop out next year,” she predicts. As for her
classmates, she says, “MCAS makes students think they are stupid.”
Do high stakes tests motivate all students?
In a major report published by the American Educational Research
Association, researchers Thomas Kellaghan, George Madaus, and Anastasia
Raczek (1996) asked the questions: Do high-stakes tests motivate all
students? and What do tests motivate students to do? They found that
high-stakes testing can actually undermine motivation, especially for
students who already have a tenuous hold on schooling. Even for
motivated students, examinations may not lead to the desirable outcomes -
higher levels of achievement and problem-solving, intrinsic moti-
vation, general competence, or self-determination - that are key to
nurturing an informed citizenry and a skilled workforce. Good students we
interviewed around the state say they value school. Eighth or ninth grade
was the “best year ever” for some. Still, many see MCAS as a “mental
block” that some believe will be difficult to surmount. Some believe that
MCAS is “a plan to stop city kids from going to college.” Many see
MCAS as a “set up to tell you you’re stupid.”
Sylvie belongs to the Massachusetts Class of 2003, the first class required
to pass MCAS before graduating. Friendly and reserved at the same time,
Sylvie describes herself as serious, hardworking, and creative, both in and
outside of
school. She sings in her church chorus, attending rehearsals faithfully, and
she volunteers at her church convention.
Sylvie has consistently had a “B+” grade average in school. She loves to
read, and her favorite book is the award-winning Push. In eighth
grade, she won her school’s award for good grades and behavior. In 9th
grade, her grades improved further. She cites her math skills as a
particular strength, and her report card shows “A”s in both Math and
English.
Still, Sylvie was not overly confident about MCAS, and in eighth grade, she
regularly stayed after school to attend the MCAS prep classes
her favorite teacher offered. Despite her effort, she scored “Needs
Improvement” in English and “low Fail” in Math. She now worries about
how she will fare when MCAS “counts.” Describing testing as “horrible
because it’s long and confusing,” she says, “College students do
well on these questions.” In light of her MCAS scores, she believes her
teachers now see her in terms of what she does not know rather than
what she does know. “Teachers always liked me,” she says, “But MCAS
made us look stupid. Most of the things I learned weren’t on the
MCAS.” “I’m afraid that I won’t graduate,” she adds. “I don’t
know what you have to know to do well. MCAS made me want to drop out.”
The MCAS dilemma: “Feel stupid” or leave
Good students we interviewed understand that the lack of a diploma is a
disaster. Still, many who have already failed MCAS once do not view
the “opportunity” to repeat that failure as a strong motivator for
working harder.
Given the choice of retaking a test that makes them “feel stupid” and
the prospect of repeated humiliating failures, many students are likely to
dismiss the possibility of passing “some day” and bow out of testing -
and school - altogether. Predicting the reactions of classmates who fail,
one tenth grader says, “Some [students] will stay, but one day they’re
going to give up.” Another reports, “A lot of kids are going to get
discouraged. Some will keep trying, but a lot will struggle to get to
school.” One says, “I’ll go back to Barbados. I’ll get my diploma
there.” Nor
do students we interviewed have much faith in retesting. Indeed, testing
conditions they have already encountered encourage neither hope or
effort: “Everyone’s in the cafeteria bunched together on cold chairs.
You can’t do your best that way,” explain students from one Boston high
school.
Policy makers have sold MCAS as a necessary “stick” to get students to
work hard and take school seriously. But contrary to policy rhetoric,
for a portion of students who are already working hard, MCAS is as likely to
drive them away from school as to motivate them to work harder.
The predictable push-out consequences of high-stakes testing
The Massachusetts dropout problem is no puzzle. Reporting findings from a
major national longitudinal database, University of Wisconsin
researchers Gary Wehlage and Robert Rutter (1986) have emphasized, “The
process of becoming a dropout is complex because the act of
rejecting an institution as fundamental to the society as school must also
be accompanied by the belief that the institution has rejected the
person.” Repeating a grade, punitive attendance practices, school
exclusion, and labeling and placement in low-track classes are among the
school experiences that contribute to a student’s belief that “school is
not for me.”
High-stakes testing also sabotages schools’ “holding power,”
especially in schools enrolling large numbers of vulnerable students.
Researchers from the National Board for Educational Testing and Public
Policy (Clarke, Haney, & Madaus, 2000) summarize these correlations:
Nine of the ten states with the highest dropout rates in the country tie
test scores to decisions about graduation. In contrast, none of the ten
states with the lowest dropout rates have such a policy.
Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS:88) indicates
that high-stakes testing in grade 8 contributes to higher dropout
rates before tenth grade among students attending schools with
proportionately higher numbers of low-income students.
In Florida, a study of students’ tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade
records found that the likelihood of dropping out increased significantly
among students with moderate grades (1.5-2.5 on a 4-point scale) who failed
the state’s graduation test.
Likewise, an exhaustive study of Texas enrollment data over 20 years found
that disparities in grade progression and graduation were
exacerbated just prior to and throughout the years of testing for graduation
in that state (Haney, 2000). Specifically:
During the first year of Texas graduation testing in 1991, the proportion of
students progressing from ninth grade to graduation on time
declined dramatically, a drop 50% greater for African American and Latino
students than for white students. Although white students have
recovered “normal” pre-testing progression rates, African American and
Latino students have not done so, leaving wider gaps in educational
attainment between white students and African American and Latino students.
Sixth graders in Texas are now less likely to reach grade 12 than
in the years prior to high stakes testing; only 70% of African American and
Latino sixth graders do so.
Overall, research suggests that high-stakes testing policies set the stage
for higher dropout rates. Among vulnerable students in particular,
high-stakes testing may exert a push-out effect so that students who would
otherwise be expected to complete school instead experience
greater chances of leaving without a diploma.
The coming “train wreck:” Asleep at the switch
Despite foreseeable increases in dropout rates, the Massachusetts DOE has
failed to take even the most basic steps to anticipate, monitor, and
address the impact of MCAS on the state’s dropout problem, especially in
relation to the state’s most vulnerable students.
State leadership is lacking to address the coming “train wreck.” The
Massachusetts Department of Education has no staff
person responsible for leading dropout prevention efforts at the state
level.
The Department of Education’s budget provides no funding directed toward
dropout prevention. Funding for “remediation” is
no substitute for support for reforms and programs designed specifically to
lower dropout rates.
The Massachusetts DOE’s dropout reports are inadequate for monitoring the
impact of MCAS on the state’s most vulnerable
students.
Massachusetts has not reported dropout data for special education students
since 1994-95.
Massachusetts does not report dropout rates for students learning English as
a second language and has never done so.
Massachusetts does not report dropout numbers for students who drop out of
school before reaching ninth grade. These
students are not counted in official dropout reports.
In the absence of dropout data disaggregated for the most vulnerable groups,
including students with disabilities, students who are learning
English as a second language, and students who turn 16 in the middle grades,
the legislature and community cannot assess the impact of
MCAS on dropout trends in Massachusetts.
In the era of high-stakes testing, the DOE must assume responsibility for
addressing, reporting, and monitoring state and district dropout rates
in a manner that fully accounts for the dropout problem statewide and in
individual communities.
Choosing equity
The state should immediately suspend the policy of linking MCAS scores to
high school graduation. States, districts, and schools make
choices regarding the policies and practices they adopt. To choose current
policy is to choose higher dropout rates.
The state must renew its commitment to dropout prevention. The state should
ensure that leadership responsibility is assigned within the
Department of Education to develop an overall dropout prevention strategy,
allocate funds for programs and technical assistance targeted to
districts with weak holding power, and improve state monitoring and
reporting of dropout rates, focusing on the impact of MCAS on the state’s
most vulnerable students.
The state should begin immediately to work with local districts and
professional associations to design a multi-faceted assessment system that
will improve learning for all students. Such a system should strengthen
accountability by monitoring students’ basic skills statewide and
engage learning by promoting local approaches grounded in real student work.
(See CARE’s proposal for an Authentic Accountability System
at http://www.fairtest.org/ARN/masspage.html.)
References
Clarke, M., Haney, W., Madaus, G. (2000). High Stakes Testing and High
School Completion. NBETPP Statements 1(3). Chestnut Hill: Boston
College, Center for the Study of Testing.
Kellaghan, T., Madaus, G., and Raczek, A. (1996). The Use of External
Examinations to Improve Motivation. Washington, DC: American
Educational Research Assoc.
Haney, W. (2000). The Myth of the Texas Miracle in Education. Education
Policy Analysis Archives, Vol. 8, No. 4:
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n41/.
Wehlage, G.G. and Rutter, R. (1986). Dropping Out: How Much Do Schools
Contribute to the Problem? Teachers College Record 87 (3): Spring:
374-392.
