Minutes of the 10/1/00 MassParents Meeting
1. Tuesday night (10/3/00) at 6:00 there will be a school committee meeting during which a
discussion of the MCAS and the school committee's stance on the test will be discussed. As
mentioned in another announcement, Denise Simmons will be representing the Cambridge
School Committee at a council meeting of state school committees in November. We discussed
the importance of attending tomorrow's meeting with anti-MCAS buttons on, making our
presence known to those members of the committee who are not yet ready to pass a resolution
against the test. If you are willing to speak, that would be even more wonderful. If you would
call a representative or two, we wholeheartedly cheer you. Thanks in advance for whatever
you can do. See the other email for further details.
Below the minutes are two resolutions passed by Arlington and Amherst-Pelham Schools.
Other examples of resolutions passed are at our web site: www.massparents.org
A letter is being sent by CARE to all school committees across the state, encouraging them to
consider passing similar resolutions against the test. It has been signed by parents, teachers,
and some school committee members. Alice Turkel is one of them. Go Alice!
2. On the November ballot, in Jarrett Barrios's district of Cambridge, and other districts in other
towns, there will be a referendum question which asks our representatives to support our public
schools. One of the concerns in the question is the elimination of the MCAS as a graduation
requirement. This is a nonbinding question, but it helps to make the public aware of the
controversy with the test and to inform the politicians that they need to support us on this issue.
All of us in MassParents (and others who believe this test is a disaster waiting to happen) need
to put a concerted effort into making sure this referendum passes. Since we only need to focus
on one district in Cambridge, it should not be too difficult.
We need volunteers to leaflet their own streets or neighborhoods prior to the vote. I, Charlo
Maurer will be coordinating volunteers, so please call or email me to let me know if you would
be willing to do an hour or two dropping off leaflets. My phone number is: 491-0429, and my
email address is: charlom@mediaone.net Jonathon King and Larry Ward will help with the
distribution of brochures as needed.
We will also be asking people to stand outside voting stations, encouraging voters to vote YES
on QUESTION 9. Can you help? Let Charlo know.
We are going to send a letter to the Cambridge Teacher's Association asking them to endorse
the referendum. After a little rewriting and editing, we will send it out to the CTA executive
board. Their support could make a big difference.
We need to develop a poster for yard signage to support Question 9. Is anyone out there a
good poster designer? Drop us an email.
3. There is a new flier out called MCAS Alert which will be coming out every couple of months
on research related to the MCAS and other educational concerns. The first issue is about the
drop out rate and the MCAS. Anne Wheelock is doing the research behind these reports.
4. We believe it is important to inform this year's tenth grade students and parents about the
controversies surrounding the MCAS test. Mark Breneman and Ann Haycox are going to work
on a brochure for the parents. We hope to hold a forum for parents sometime before the spring
test period.
5. We have acquired a tax ID number as the entity MassParents. Our next step is to officially
become a non profit organization with the state of Massachusetts. That will be worked on at the
next meeting.
6. The next CARE steering committee meeting will be at MIT on Thursday October 19th. While
it is in our neighborhood, we Cambridge folks should put in an appearance.
The strawberry shortcake prepared by Jackie along with the coffee made the meeting much
more of a treat. Be sure not to miss the next meeting, you never know what great food might
show up also.
Keep up the good work, one and all.
Charlo Maurer
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Both of these resolutions were approved by the Resolutions
Subcommittee of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees
(MASC) and then by the Board of MASC. They will come before the
full delegate body at the convention in early November:
Resolution 1 (originated by Arlington)
WHEREAS MASC recognizes the need to set high standards for all
students in the Commonwealth and to establish a system of
accountability that ensures that all school systems are preparing
their students for an increasingly complex world and,
WHEREAS we believe that the current Massachusetts Comprehensive
Assessment System is seriously flawed,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the legislature and/or the
Department of Education suspend MCAS as a graduation requirement
until such time as these critical issues have been addressed:
1) The need to develop a variety of assessment instruments (as
described in the Education Reform Act of 1993) so that all
students are evaluated fairly.
2) The need to develop additional criteria, so that no single test
will determine the fate of a student or the value of a school
system
3) The length of the test and the time it takes away from teaching
and learning.
4) The effect on students of the use of the test as a graduation
requirement (including but not limited to vocational, special
education, and bilingual students).
Resolution 2 (originated by Amherst-Pelham)
WHEREAS a "high-stakes" testing program will harm students by
increasing high school dropout rates, discouraging other middle
and high school students who perform at marginal levels, and
unnecessarily frustrating some younger children, especially those
with special needs, who are unable to succeed on the challenging
MCAS tests, and
WHEREAS there is inadequate verification that MCAS results
distinguish failing performance from performance that needs
improvement, and
WHEREAS there is evidence that states that have implemented
education reform without high-stakes testing are having better
results in improving academic performance than states that have
adopted high-stakes testing,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that MASC oppose the use of passing
grade on the 10th grade Language Arts and Math MCAS tests as a
requirement for graduation from high school, and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED that MASC urge the Board of Education not to link
MCAS results with the granting of high school diplomas and MASC
lobby for legislation that will prohibit the use of MCAS results
for that purpose.
