NEW YORK TIMES, PAGE 1
April 13, 2000

Blue Books Closed, Students Protest State Tests

By JACQUES STEINBERG

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass., April 12 -- The blue test booklet, stamped with
the imprint of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and distributed this
morning to 10th-grade classrooms throughout the state, contained a lone
essay question that students had two hours to answer: describe why a
supporting character in a favorite novel was essential to the plot. 

But Jake Levin, 15, a sophomore at Monument Mountain Regional High School
in the state's northwest corner, chose instead to vent his fury at the
high-stakes tests sweeping the country. He closed the booklet, pulled out
six sheets of looseleaf notebook paper and wrote an essay about how a
standardized exam could never measure the breadth of his abilities. 

He was not alone in his defiance. 

>From the Berkshire Mountains to Cambridge and south to Cape Cod, brushfires
of civil disobedience flared in classrooms across Massachusetts today, as
several hundred 10th graders, and a handful of fourth graders and eighth
graders, boycotted the first of 11 days of standardized tests meant to
evaluate students and schools. But next year the stakes will rise, with the
sophomore class required to pass English and mathematics tests before
graduation. 

Today's protest was the latest, and largest, indication of rising
discontent among students and parents. State boards of education and
legislatures across the country are increasingly mandating such tests as a
measure of what students have learned -- by 2003, Massachusetts will be one
of 26 states that require students to pass at least one standardized test
to graduate. 

In February, at least 200 Illinois students boycotted new state English and
math exams, deliberately filling in wrong answers. And in recent months,
parents, teachers and students have rallied and railed against new
standardized tests in Florida, Louisiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, among other
states. 

Some have taken their complaints to the courts, where they have argued that
such tests discriminate against poor and minority children, as well as
students in vocational and special-education programs. 

Under intense pressure from parents, Wisconsin officials last year repealed
a requirement that students pass a new state test to graduate from high
school. 

Mr. Levin is one of 36 sophomores who skipped the test here today and one
of at least 300 statewide, according to interviews with principals and
student organizers. He likened his protest to those against the Vietnam
War. And as a role model, Mr. Levin cited his father, now a toy-store
owner, who was almost expelled from the Putney School in Vermont for
shouting anti-Vietnam slogans at Senator Robert F. Kennedy during an
appearance there. 

"He was a youth, and now I'm young," Mr. Levin said. "We're speaking out
for what we feel is right and going against the government." 

Along with several of his classmates, Mr. Levin had been stoking the
statewide protest for weeks, through a Web site that they started:
www.scam-mcas.org. 

The protests -- staged inside and outside more than a dozen schools, as
well as on the steps of City Hall in Cambridge -- were peaceful, though not
without consequence: 25 students at Arlington High School, 10 miles
northwest of Boston, were punished with three-day suspensions. And at least
20 students at nearby Brookline High School were immediately awarded grades
of "0." Those scores will be factored into their fourth quarter averages,
unless the students agree to "buy back" the grade with a five-page paper to
be presented to their principal on Brown v. Board of Education and other
landmark Supreme Court education cases. 

The largest protest was at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, about 100
miles east of here and near Harvard, where more than 100 students boycotted
the test, many of them assembling in the school auditorium for a teach-in
that featured representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and
FairTest, an anti-testing group. 

Faced with such widespread insurrection, Cambridge school administrators
chose to permit the event and leveled no punishment, on the condition that
students did something constructive during the period in which the test was
given. Some students across the state wrote alternate essays and worked on
projects, a few did nothing. 

Although some principals said they would grade the alternative work, none
of it will be considered valid by the state. 

The Massachusetts tests, scheduled through the end of May and totaling
nearly 20 hours, were designed to assess knowledge in math, science,
English and social studies through multiple-choice questions and essays.
The protesters, who promised to boycott all 11 days of exams, described the
tests as too long, too focused on memorization at the expense of critical
thinking and too pivotal, considering that it will soon be impossible to
get a diploma without a passing grade. 

"One of the first things young people are taught in this country is that
everybody is different and these differences should be both accepted and
respected," Daniel B. Elitzer, 16, an "A" student at Monument Mountain,
wrote in his alternate essay. "Different people learn in different ways.
Why should all students be assessed the same way?" 

But Abigail Thernstrom, a member of the state board of education, said it
was entirely appropriate for the state to erect one hurdle over which all
students must jump. She said that the length of the tests, however onerous,
gave students ample time to show their abilities and that it was not too
much to ask every 10th grader to be able to interpret a passage written on
the level of Dickens or to explain how to solve a geometric problem. 

"What we are asking for is knowledge that any student who wants a high
school diploma worth the paper it's written on should have," said Ms.
Thernstrom, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative
research group. "All other measures are subjective." 

State education officials emphasized that the boycotters probably
represented fewer than 1 percent of the 68,500 sophomores statewide. 

The students who are protesting got support from an unexpected corner: the
principal's office. Tests are often written so fast that teachers have yet
to cover the material, leading some principals to worry that children are
being punished for the failing of adults. Never mind that those schools
with the most boycotters -- virtually 1 out of every 4 sophomores at
Monument Mountain skipped the test -- will probably plummet in the state
rankings. 

"They've done a very good job with the boycott," said Marianne Young, the
principal of Monument Mountain, who moved here from Vermont this year. And
then, as if giving a final grade, she added: "Excellent work!"
---------------------
BOSTON GLOBE, April 13, 2000, Page 1

HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS BOYCOTT MCAS TEST 
SANCTIONS ARE ISSUED IN SCATTERED PROTESTS 

By Doreen Iudica Vigue, GLOBE STAFF, and Tara Yaekel, GLOBE CORRESPONDENT 

Hundreds of students across the state boycotted the MCAS exam yesterday,
some by walking out of school, others by writing essays on why they dislike
the high-stakes test, and others by taking their protests to city hall. 

While there had been mounting dissension over the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System test administered in grades 4, 8, and 10,
yesterday's protests were easily the most dramatic and best organized - and
students faced the harsh est punishments to date. In Arlington, 25
students were suspended Tuesday for three days for refusing to take the
exam. In Brookline, about 20 students who staged a walkout at the high
school will have zeros averaged into their grades for English and math
courses. While Cambridge students will not face sanctions, 110 students
from grades 4, 8, and 10 citywide marched to City Hall to deliver anti-MCAS
essays they wrote and publicly air their objections. 

For their part, students said the punishments would not deter them from
continuing their protest and encouraging their friends to join them
because, they insisted, the test - which will become a requirement for
graduation in 2003 - is bad for education. 

"This was a conscionable act by students who do not support the test or its
implications," said Will Greene, a spokesman for the Student Coalition for
Alternatives to the MCAS, or SCAM, a statewide student group based at
Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington. About 45
students there boycotted the test and wrote essays critiquing it that they
will present to their School Committee tonight. 

"One standardized test cannot assess many of the important aspects of
school. I think it's wrong," said Greene, 15, a sophomore. 

State education officials said students who do not take the test could
undermine efforts to evaluate public schools and plan further reforms to
the school system. The sanctions for boycotting students, they said, are
appropriate. 

"I disagree with the position they are taking," said James A. Peyser, state
Board of Education chairman. "If they don't take the test, it makes it
harder for us to continue the improvement process. Part of civil
disobedience is accepting some of the penalties and costs that go along
with it. It's an empty gesture if there is no penalty." 

Commissioner David P. Driscoll issued a statement saying that the test went
smoothly and called the boycotts "minor." 

"The people of Massachusetts should be very proud of the great majority of
administrators, teachers, and students who took the test seriously today
and they should be commended," the statement said. 

Bill Guenther, president of Mass Insight Education, a pro-MCAS business
group, said dissenters risk robbing themselves of knowing whether they are
ready for college or the work world. 

"These are skills that matter for college and jobs, and it seems really
self-defeating for kids to avoid an exercise that is, in fact, going to
help them," Guenther said. 

About 220,000 students across the state took the English/Language Arts long
composition portion of the exam yesterday in grades 4, 8, and 10. On May
15, students in grades 4-8 and Grade 10 will take a multiple-choice version
of the test on various subjects. 

Greene said he and other SCAM members decided not to walk out or be
disruptive in their civil disobedience, preferring to write about their
issues with the exam and draw attention to its flaws rather than to
themselves. 

"We have a lot to accomplish if we want the state to reverse their decision
on MCAS. We had to be mature and responsible to get as much support from
the community as we can," said Greene. 

About 110 high school students in Cambridge boycotted the exam, and between
60 and 70 fourth- and eighth-graders refused to take it, students and
parents said. Yesterday afternoon, they flooded the steps of City Hall,
carrying posters and balloons and chanting "Be a Hero, Take a Zero!" 

In Brookline, high school students took a different tack, preferring to
walk out of the school as soon as the test was handed out. Carrying signs
that read, "This is what real thinking looks like," and "Standardize tests,
standardize class, then standardize my mind!" the students stood quietly in
front of the school for the two hours the test was administered. Most
returned to classes when it was over. 

Brookline Superintendent Jim Walsh said the students will receive a grade
of "zero" in their regular English and math courses. But in a compromise
move decided upon Tuesday, they will be given a chance to "buy back" the
zeros by writing a research paper on four court cases that led to education
reform. The paper will be due the week of May 15, when the second round of
MCAS testing begins.

IN CAMBRIDGE, STUDENT ESSAYS CITE TEST FLAWS 

BODY: As an alternative to the MCAS, many Cambridge eighth-graders
decided to write essays on what they thought were the test's flaws. The
following are unedited excerpts taken from several of those essays. "The
MCAS doesn't take into account artistic talent or vocational skills. The
fact that a child's future should be determined by knowing or not knowing
certain dates or formulas, is ridiculous and unfair. . . . People in favor
of the MCAS want high standards in schools, and I would agree; there should
be high expectations for every student. But I don't think one test is the
way to go about it." - Dara Bayer 

"In my nine years at the Graham and Parks school I have made long lasting
friendships. Through my everyday experiences I have learned so much about
the world. I know about hate, love, the importance of both. I know to ask
questions, and to always seek out the answers. That never giving up makes
you a lot stronger. That patience and kindness to others leads to self
happiness. You should never be ashamed to cry. That through my words and
actions, I can really be someone. . . . I have learned so much besides
multiplication, the metric system, and Abe Lincoln." - Brianna Goldberg 

"Instead of taking a long test which doesn't really show what you've
learned we should just use our portfolios to show our work and knowledge.
Portfolios show who we are and what we're good at. Unlike a test it backs
up that evidence with our work we have done over the past year in school so
you can see it and read it." - Jordan Mayhew 

"Doesn't standing up for what one believes in show something about what
they have learned? We have learned to be individuals and stand up for
ourselves. . . . I believe that a standardized test should not judge the
future of anyone. Sure they could be used to see how good the curriculum is
in that school, but at least create a test that doesn't limit what students
learn, something that shows what we have learned, not what we haven't, and
something that doesn't discriminate against students with disabilities." -
Alison Maurer 

"I think the MCAS means well, it's just not thought out. Yes, there needs
to be school and teacher evaluation, but not in a seventeen hour long test.
There are several ways to overcome this test, and hopefully people will." -
Dan Sanoff 
----------------
BOSTON HERALD

Boycotters score points as most students take MCAS 
by Jules Crittenden 

Thursday, April 13, 2000

As 220,000 students statewide sat down dutifully to take the controversial
MCAS test, more than 200 others offered adults a lesson in civil
disobedience by staging protests instead.

``Be a hero! Take a zero!'' about 50 students chanted outside Cambridge
City Hall. 

Tom McMillan, 15, using a megaphone, added, ``The people here have no
intention of being heroes. We're here to inform people about the state of
education…. (By spending on MCAS) we're losing money for education and
we're losing time for education.''

About 160 Cambridge students and 40 in Brookline skipped the test but wrote
essays on their decision. Another 39 in Great Barrington were ordered by
the principal to write letters of protest to state officials. 

Two dozen Arlington High School students were suspended for three days, but
Principal Charles McCarthy said he agreed with much of what they said and
admired how they said it. 

``The basis for the suspension is insubordination; the law says the test
has to be given and taken,'' McCarthy said. ``I didn't like doing it. The
kids had handled themselves professionally.''

Arlington boycotter Chris Carmody, 16, said the suspension doesn't bother him.

``You'd have to feel bad about what you did for it to be a punishment,'' he
said. ``I feel good about what I did.''

Yesterday, the essay portion of the MCAS was administered. The short-answer
test on math, science, history and English will be given in late May. The
test is now used only to judge performance, but beginning next year,
10th-graders must pass in order to graduate.

Last year's scores showed more than half of all students in all grades and
virtually all subjects either flunked the MCAS or were in need of improvement.

Some protesters suggested that using the test to hold someone back from
graduating is illegal.

``The state Education Reform Act of 1993 says you cannot use just one form
of assessment,'' said Andrew King, 13, of Cambridge.

Hannah Jukovsky, 15, said she believes that the form of the test
discriminates against special education and bilingual students.

``It hurts so many different kids,'' Jukovsky said. 

Of the boycotts, Education Commissioner David Driscoll said in a statement,
``Those cases in my view were minor and schools were orderly…. Students,
teachers and administrators were taking this test seriously.'' 

State Board of Education Chairman James Peyser said, ``The standards and
curriculum frameworks that lay behind the MCAS are a critical part of
raising student achievement across the Commonwealth.'' 

Of the suspensions in Arlington, Peyser said, ``There should be
consequences for students refusing to do those things that are prescribed
by law and by the school district. Civil disobedience without any cost
associated with it is an empty gesture.''
-----------------
AP Wire Story, April 13, 2000

Students boycott statewide MCAS tests 

By CATHERINE IVEY, Associated Press Writer 

BROOKLINE, Mass. 

Some got suspended and others got support as students across the state
boycotted the controversial MCAS exam. 

"Basically, we think it's been a detriment to our education," said Chris
Carmody, one of two dozen Arlington High School students suspended for
boycotting the test. 

>From Great Barrington to Brookline on Wednesday, students sat out the
composition portion of a test that will be a high school graduation
requirement starting in 2003. In Cambridge, dozens of students and parents
gathered outside City Hall to demonstrate. 

Protesters say the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test is
unfair to poor test-takers, poorly funded schools and special education
students. 

"It is a very poorly designed test with ambiguously worded questions that
are often arbitrary and trivial," said Jackie King, a Cambridge parent who
encouraged her fourth- and eighth-grade sons to boycott. Up to 150
Cambridge students were expected to do the same, she said. 

The composition portion of the MCAS's language arts section was
administered to all fourth-, eighth- and 10th-graders on Wednesday. Other
sections of the lengthy exam - math, science and social studies - will be
given in May. 

This is the third year the MCAS has been administered. Last year's scores
showed more than half of all students in all grades and virtually all
subjects either flunked the MCAS or were in need of improvement. Schools
that consistently do poorly could face state takeover. 

"It's 17 hours that justify whether or not you can get a high school
diploma from the state for your four years of high school," said sophomore
Sarah Bowman, one of 23 Brookline High School students who refused to take
the first part of the MCAS, in English composition. 

Many said they are concerned that pressure for high scores is causing
teachers to scrap creative teaching methods in favor of rote memorization
and drills. 

"I've personally experienced teachers who've had to race through things,"
said Carmody, the suspended Arlington student. "... The high-stakes nature
of the test is a sham." 

Protesters also suggested that using the test to hold someone back from
graduating goes against the state's 1993 Education Reform Act. That bill
called for multiple forms of assessment to be used as graduation
requirements, they said. 

"One standardized test can't judge the knowledge of an entire school or how
well school systems are doing and how smart students are," Bowman said. 

Protesters also expressed concern that the test is especially harmful to
students in low-income areas and minority areas. 

Members of a statewide student organization called SCAM, for Student
Coalition for Alternatives to MCAS, said at least 30 schools were expected
to participate in the protest. It was not clear how many students actually
did. 

State education officials estimated that less than 1 percent of the 220,000
students scheduled to take the test Wednesday participated in the boycott. 

"There were very few cases of students boycotting the test," Education
Commissioner David Driscoll said in a statement. "Those cases in my view
are minor, and schools were orderly." 

In Great Barrington, 39 sophomores wrote letters to state education
officials instead of taking the test, said Marianne Young, principal of
Monument Mountain Regional High School. 

Several school administrators said that while they did not encourage the
boycott, they were pleased with the way students conducted it. 

"They have been responsible and articulate ... and have done nothing to
cause me concern," Young said. 

Boycotters at Brookline High School did not get out of the test entirely -
they are required to explain in a research paper why they refused the test,
said headmaster Robert Weintraub. 

"I would prefer that they join together with myself and the superintendent
of schools and teachers and parents and others who have concerns about the
MCAS and lobby for change through the democratic process," Weintraub said.
"But they chose not to do that and I respect that."


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