MCAS in the news (10/13 - 10/14/01

A few weekend articles anticipate the release of statewide MCAS scores on Monday, while one school committee decides to grant a diploma regardless of MCAS scores. In anticipation of scores coming out, students, one school has sponsored a set of lunch-time events to bolster students' motivation and resolve for retesting. There's also a summary of the Harvard conference on testing this past week.


APwire/Boston.com, 10/14: Statewide MCAS results due Monday
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/287/region/Statewide_MCAS_results_due_Mon:.shtml

Scores from last spring's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test improved among 10th grade test takers, according to the Massachusetts Department of Education, which plans to release statewide results Monday on Beacon Hill.  ''There was always the expectation that once the high stakes were attached to the test, students would take it more seriously. That seems to be the case,'' said department spokeswoman Heidi B. Perlman.....
.... Kathleen Kelley, president of the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers, said improvements should come as no surprise.  ''This is the third or fourth year we're doing it,'' she said. ''I would expect them to do better.'' .....
.... New scoring will likely mean slight increases overall, Perlman said. Students still need a 220 score to pass. The low and high scores are 200 and 280, respectively, but the scale used in past years made is impossible to get a 280, even if all questions were answered correctly.....
.... Kelley said students are put under too much pressure. 
''The high stakes nature is a huge concern to us, no matter how many times students take the test over,'' she said. ''This test has become the end all and be all of education reform. In our view, that's not appropriate. There are a lot of other measures in
determining a child's future.'' 


Daily Hampshire Gazette, 10/13: District takes MCAS stand
http://www.gazettenet.com/10132001/schools/7467.htm

WESTHAMPTON - The district school board has decided that all Hampshire Regional students who complete the high
school's course of studies will receive a diploma, regardless of their MCAS scores. 
This stance, unanimously adopted Oct. 1, is contrary to that of the state Department of Education, which has made
passage of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests a graduation requirement. 
Superintendent William Erickson said Thursday that the school board's position expresses its concern about the imposition
of another standard beyond what the district requires. He said the Hampshire Regional School Committee has been the local
authority issuing diplomas and doesn't think that should change. 
"It's a thoughtful committee that is concerned ... about the high-stakes aspects of the test," Erickson said....
.... [DOE spokesperson Jonathan] Palumbo said he consulted with the DOE's commissioner and chief legal counsel, who say
the law is clear that satisfactorily passing the MCAS tests shall be a condition of graduation. 
But the Regional School Committee said that it plans to satisfy DOE's requirement by presenting a separate document
stating a student's MCAS scores along with the diploma or at another time. ....
..... [Erickson] said one reason for issuing the statement is that other districts likely feel the same as Hampshire Regional, and
perhaps the committee's action will rally others to express their views. 
Larry Miller, a Goshen representative on the committee, said the board isn't backing away from the MCAS tests.
Members think the tests should be taken and have students do as well as possible. 
But Miller said he's afraid that students will give up or drop out since the test is taken in the 10th grade, fairly early in their
high school career. 
Further, Miller said the committee took its stand because members believe parents, students and teachers share the
board's opinion about the MCAS requirement . 


Springfield Union-News, 10/14: WMass juniors wait with fingers crossed
http://www.masslive.com/news/unionnews/index.ssf?/news/pstories/ae1014pv.html

In a strange way, it is almost like waiting for lottery results. 
High school junior Jackie Enriquez hopes that when her MCAS test report arrives this month, it will show at least a 220
score on both the mathematics and English examinations. 
With these two numbers, the Putnam Vocational Technical High School student will have successfully cleared one more
hurdle on her road to graduation. If even one number turns out to be a 219 or lower, however, she will have to retake the state
tests — and pass — in order to receive a diploma in 2003. 
Based on preliminary test data, administrators at the Springfield school predict that Enriquez came close. But her scores
were not stellar enough to guarantee a pass.....
..... "I know if I study and work hard on the parts I messed up on, I can pass it," she said. "I go home, I take care of my baby,
and I still come here and study every single day. A lot of people thought that after I had my kid, I wouldn't graduate." ....
.... At Putnam last week, students shared feelings ranging from unshakable resolve, like those expressed by Enriquez, to deep
concern....
.... By Putnam's calculations, Enriquez and Deleon join one-fourth of juniors in having solid scores. Administrators say that the
focus from now until the December retest will be these students and the students with midrange test scores.....
.... The school-organized lunches for juniors considered almost there.... "You are very, very close to passing that test," said
Principal Ann M. Southworth at the Putnam's Pride lunch. 
But she went on to explain that the school will not positively know until the state announces how many points determine a
passing exam. 
"Remember that the MCAS test is not a basic skills test," she counseled. "It's one of the toughest tests in the country." 
And remember, she added, that as vocational students, they take the same exams as their counterparts in the city's other
high schools, but with half the academic class time.
They were given forms that seek permission — and support — from students' guardians for after-school tutoring....
.... On Wednesday morning, the second half of students who are close, but not necessarily close enough to passing the test,
was invited to a pizza party. Christopher L. Bryden was surprised to learn that he may not have passed. 
He figured that he breezed through the math. "I thought I passed the English, too," he said. "I wrote the best essays I've
ever written." .....
.... For mid-level scorers, the school conducted one short assembly on Thursday that junior Andrea S. Johnson described as
"straight to the point." 
She said, "We just need the extra boost to help to get us over the standards they set for us." 
Tamara E. Brew left the auditorium that morning "very worried," and has been so since she took the exams. "One test
should not determine if you get a diploma at graduation," she said. 
As that group left, another filed in to take its place. Most of these students did not show up to take the test last year. 
The school identified about 120 students in this position, but only about 30 showed up to the auditorium. Southworth urged
these juniors to take the retests, saying that the school can easily tutor them in areas in which they need help.....
.... The students were quiet, asking few questions. 
The mood was in stark contrast to the first lunch on the previous Friday honoring 43 students who probably passed one or
both tests. 
At that gathering, administrators implored the top scorers to turn around and encourage their friends. "If you could do it,
they can do it, right?" Southworth said. ....
.... With Putnam's test predictions still just that, however, Pedro J. Rivera, the school's MCAS coordinator, distributed tutoring
forms to this group, anyway. 
"This is like insurance," he said as he passed the table where junior Joenathan Delgado and his friends were finishing off their
pizza. "I hope you don't need it." 


Boston Sunday Globe, 10/14: Looking at the pros, cons, of MCAS, other high stakes tests
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/287/learning/Looking_at_the_pros_cons_of_MCAS_other_high_stakes_tests+.shtml

When a researcher asked a student to depict his feelings about the MCAS exam, one boy drew a self-portrait staring at a test paper, mouth agape in a perfect ''O'' and hands pressed to his cheeks in panic, ala Munch's famous painting ''The Scream.''

The sketch elicited laughter from educators, policy makers, and academics .... But not everyone laughs when it comes to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.....
.... Some at the forum, called ''Testing Testing,'' said such tests do not offer a very good barometer of student achievement.  Students who fail the MCAS may perform admirably on national tests, a disparity that at least one critic at the conference found troubling. About a third of students who fail the MCAS exam score above the national norm on other tests, said Walter Haney, a professor at Boston College's School of Education.....
..... Noting the correlation between MCAS scores and income - students in wealthier neighborhoods record higher scores than those in poorer areas - Haney disputed the idea that the test serves as a barometer of how well students have mastered the curriculum.  ''This tends in my view to be a quasi-IQ test,'' he said. 
But MCAS supporters view the test as a catalyst toward education reform and a way to encourage teachers to do what
they do better.  ''The MCAS ultimately is not creating a problem but identifying a problem that many of us in this room knew existed for a long time,'' said James A. Peyser, chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education and education adviser to Acting Governor Jane M. Swift. 
''It's not about punishing adults as much as it is about providing opportunities to children who are stuck in schools that just
aren't working,'' Peyser said...... 

This story ran on page B10 of the Boston Globe on 10/14/2001.