Summary of Education Reform Legislation

  

(1) An act relative to educational assessments. This act would repeal the graduation requirement that has been attached to MCAS.  It would continue to require “competency determination” but limit it to math and English “at levels of proficiency which will be meaningful for all high school graduates.” Statements would be removed from the law providing alternate assessments only “as much as is practicable” and providing that “no student shall be allowed to be tested in a language other than English for longer than three consecutive years.” The act would abolish MCAS at the end of 2001 and require the Board of Education to replace it with assessments that include, for every student, both state-sponsored tests and locally determined and administered consideration of work samples, projects or portfolios. The Board of Education would be directed to specify or provide separate assessments for awarding certificates of mastery and certificates of occupational proficiency.

 

(2) An act relative to admission to state institutions of higher education. This act would forbid requiring scores on state-sponsored standardized tests for admission to state colleges, community colleges and all branches of the University of Massachusetts, including failure to obtain a high school diploma for reasons solely related to such test scores. It would allow these institutions to require other test scores and to consider voluntarily submitted scores in their selection of applicants.

 

(3) An act regulating financial incentives in education. This act would prohibit any use of standardized tests administered to students in determining the compensation of school personnel or in making financial awards to schools or school personnel.

 

(4) An act regulating disclosure in educational testing. This act would require state-sponsored standardized tests to meet certain requirements if they are to be administered to all or most students or to all or most of any group of students in any public school. Before public disclosure of scores and within six months of test administration, (a) test questions used in scoring, standard accepted answers and methods of scoring would have to be disclosed to the public; and (b) actual test answers and their scores would have to be returned to test takers or their legal guardians. Results of tests that violate these requirements would be invalidated and excluded from records. Disclosure of actual test answers to the public would be forbidden except by test takers or their legal guardians, unless all answers were being publicly disclosed without identification of test takers, schools or municipalities.

 

(5) An act regulating disbursement of funds to charter schools. This act would require any charter school receiving public funds to have a nonprofit organization and restrain such schools from paying more than ten percent of their annual expenditures, exclusive of direct personnel and building operation costs, to for-profit entities.

 

(6) An act relative to governance of education. This act would forbid members of the Public Education Nominating Council and the Board of Education from having conflicts of interest or commitment, “such as those from serving as an officer, director, fellow, employee or contractor for any entity operating, providing services to, or advocating policy concerning public or private elementary or secondary schools.” It would add two seats on the Board of Education reserved for a public school teacher and a public school parent. It would apply the Administrative Procedures Act (Chapter 30A of the General Laws) to both the Council and the Board.

 

 

Prepared by the Brookline chapter of CARE (Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education)

Updated Tuesday, December 5, 2000