See the Call to Resist of Massachusetts Parents
New York Times Article from April 13th
Boston Globe article from April 13th
Compilation of press reports from April 13th
Cambridge Rindge and Latin
The boycott at Cambridge Rindge and Latin high school was a huge success. By April 12, 111 tenth-grade students had signed up to boycott, and on that day about 70 showed up for a teach-in at the auditorium from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. (Many boycotting students did not come to the high school because they were attending a funeral for a student who had died suddenly the week before.) Speakers were Rob Riordan, Larry Ward, Dan French, and Nancy Murray (from the ACLU) giving talks on the history of educational reform and MCAS, student rights, and the American tradition of civil disobedience and protest. There was serious ongoing discussion and questions-and-answers from the students. The session ended with discussion of alternate ways of assessing the work of the boycotting students, including the making of portfolios that would show the scope and depth of students' interests and experiences.
Many students then went to Central Square to participate in an anti-MCAS rally on the steps of City Hall.Wednesday April 12th
There are now four students officially boycotting at the Tobin School in Cambridge, three fourth graders and one eighth grader. Interest continues to grow, along with the number of boycotters (there were only two as of two days ago).
The fourth grade boycotters are writing an essay to the following prompt and bringing a copy with them to the rally. If they have extra time they will help out in the first grade classroom where they have gone to write their essays.
Being courageous is not easy! Have you ever wanted to show courage but were afraid to do so? What gives some people the strength to show real courage while others find it so difficult? Throughout history, many people have found courage when they discover that people are being treated unfairly by others. Sometimes they realize they are the ones being treated unfairly, sometimes they fight for the rights of others. Choose one
person who you believe showed such courage and write about him or her to us. You can choose someone you have read about in a history book or someone you know personally.
First introduce this person to us, your readers, telling us anything you think we should know about this person in order to understand his or her act of courage. Then describe what this person did that showed courage in fighting for people who were being treated unfairly, why you think she or he was able to be so courageous, and
why his/her example of courage is important to you.
Before you write out your answer,
1) write down some ideas and some interesting details so that we can really understand why this person is so important to you,
2) decide how you want to organize these ideas and details,
3) write your answer,
4) re-read your piece and check it to see itŐs what you really wanted to say and that it is your best writing.
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Sara Freedman
freedmas@bc.edu****************************************************************
Monday April 10th
Arlington High School announces 3 day suspension for anyone boycotting the MCAS test.
Thursday April 6th
Brookline High School announces
"for students who refuse to take any portion of the MCAS, I have decided to ask teachers to enter a zero for a major assessment in the fourth quarter, and average the zero with the rest of the student's grades when calculating the grade for the quarter. For example, if a student refuses to take the English/Language Arts Composition (scheduled for April 12), he/she receives a zero for the equivalent of a major paper in the fourth quarter. This is a logical and high stakes consequence; logical because they have failed to appear for a two-hour English/Language Arts experience (good assessment happens to coincide with good learning and I
believe that the composition is a good assessment); logical because there is always a consequence for civil disobedience; and high stakes because grades are VERY important to most kids." ...in an e mail to staff
Bob Weintraub
Principal Brookline High School**************************************************
Policy revised
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 22:02:46 -0400
The following is a memo that I sent to my staff this afternoon. I thought you would be interested.
Bob Weintraub
Dear everyone,
I have spent the last four days listening carefully to many thoughtful voices in our community - teachers, students, parents, and citizens beyond Brookline who care deeply about our kids and public education. I
continue to believe that the state has the right to assess the academic progress of every child as leverage for improved student performance -- as an accountability mechanism for the money that they have invested in
the public schools. MCAS, in its present form, is the instrument of assessment.
There are some students at Brookline High who, after deep thinking and soul searching, cannot in good conscience, take the MCAS exam. I have interpreted their proposed boycott as civil disobedience. With civil
disobedience comes consequences. I announced that I have asked teachers to assign a zero on a major assessment for students who boycott the MCAS. After additional consultation and contemplation, I have revised my consequence.
Students who refuse to take MCAS will have an opportunity to "buy back" their zero through the completion of an alternative assessment. Since MCAS requires 16 hours, the alternative should also take 16 hours. The
alternative work will result in a five-page paper that I will grade as Pass/Fail. The paper's thesis is, "I am refusing to take MCAS because ..." and must include research that includes study of four seminal court
cases -- Brown v. Board of Education, Serrano v. Priest, Webby v. Dukakis, and McDuffy v. Robertson -- that led to important educational reform in the United States and in Massachusetts.
If the student earns a passing grade on the paper, I will notify the teachers that a zero should not be assigned. If the student earns a failing grade on the paper (indicating a lack of conscientiousness), or if the student fails to complete the alternative work, I will ask the teacher to enter a zero.
MCAS begins on Wednesday morning at 8:00 am with the Long Composition. I am asking for everyone to support this compromise. The next part of MCAS begins on May 15. We will continue to discuss this complex topic between now and then.
Bob---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass insight (the folks who suport the MCAS weigh in on boycotting students)
MCAS: Skills That Matter
News, information and ideas on MCAS and higher standards from Mass Insight Education Message 1.2 ~ April 7, 2000
This Update's Focus: Responding to MCAS Boycotts
As you ve probably heard, a small number of vocal students and teachers across the state are preparing to boycott the MCAS tests this spring. They will without doubt receive a fair amount of media coverage. To give superintendents, school committees, and other advocates ideas on how to respond to boycotts, Mass Insight Education is teaming up with several of its partners to send a statement outlining possible responses
to school districts across the state.
The statement outlines three reasons why MCAS boycotts are inappropriate and counter-productive. It also explores possible responses we ve heard from superintendents from doing nothing all the way to multi-day suspensions. A middle course to consider, either for this year or as announced policy for next year when the
tests begin to count: docking boycotters grades in the corresponding course. For example, a student who boycotts the English MCAS test might find his/her class grade of B in English reduced to a B-minus, as would happen if that student received no credit for any important, curriculum-based test. Such a policy would help underline MCAS s connection to the curriculum being taught.
The full statement is attached as a separate document and pasted below. We look forward to hearing your comments and hope you will help us distribute the statement and the messages it holds.
A Thoughtful Response to MCAS Boycotts
1. Many school districts can expect to face student boycotts of MCAS this spring.
It is a development that has happened in every state working to put higher standards into place. Ironically, in some ways it s a sign that standards-based reform is working: students, parents, communities and schools are taking MCAS seriously. Student academic achievement as never before is in the news and on everyone s mind. But boycotts of MCAS can undermine a community s commitment to higher standards, and districts and school committees should be prepared for them with a sensible, meaningful policy.
2. What s wrong with student boycotts? MCAS boycotts carry the following costs to students, schools, and communities:
§ Boycotting students don t learn how well they are doing, as measured against set learning standards instead of against a curve.
§ Their school, teachers, and parents don t learn anything either, about areas in which the students are strong or weak and how to use the wealth of MCAS diagnostic data to help each student do better.
§ School-wide data are incomplete and flawed, making it impossible for districts and schools to evaluate their own progress.
§ Students who are invested in their own learning, who try hard on the tests and who understand the value of a true measurement of their progress, begin to question both that understanding and along with their parents and the community their school district s commitment to raising expectations and standards for all students.
3. How should districts respond? There is a wide range of possible responses. Some reflections on the three Mass Insight Education hears about from superintendents most often:
-- Do nothing. The problem here is that students, teachers, schools, and the community suffer all of the costs outlined above and the groundwork is laid for much larger boycotts next year.
-- Suspend boycotters. Districts risk creating martyrs out of students avoiding a test. The costs go up, because those students lose in-class time when they should be learning.
-- Dock boycotters grades in the corresponding course. For example: for a student boycotting the English 10th grade MCAS test, a grade of B in the English course he or she is taking this spring becomes a B-minus or C. Message sent: these tests are important and provide a useful measurement of how well our students are performing. As it would with any other curriculum-based test, a score of zero will have an impact on
our students overall course grade. Superintendents who are reluctant to take this step this spring might consider announcing it as a district policy beginning next year, when the tests begin to count and after 12 months of awareness about the consequences of boycotting.
Andy Calkins
Mass Insight Education
Tremont Street, 9th floor
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-722-4160
Fax: 617-722-4151