MCAS tests are obstacle

By LINDA SARAGE

Thursday, December 2, 1999 -- I am a public school teacher. I teach a complex
curriculum and I hold my students to high standards. These students are smart in
many different ways. But our curriculum is increasingly driven by the MCAS
tests. I know that improved test scores do not mean improved learning. But
others don't agree. So I spend precious classroom time teaching kids about a
test. I know that I am not alone. Across the state, hundreds of hours and millions
of dollars are spent on a test that interferes with quality teaching and ignores
what we know about true learning. 

The release of the 1999 test results was met with outrage. Test scores were
even lower than in 1998, the first year of testing. One-third of Massachusetts
Grade 10 students failed English. Over half our high school students failed math.
Heads were shaking. Fingers began pointing. 

Who is to blame for these failing scores? I have watched with interest as the
Massachusetts Department of Education has moved forward with the Education
Reform Act of 1993. I have seen political maneuvering by the Commissioners of
Education and the Board of Education distort the ideals of a public education. I
have examined the fourth-, eighth-, and 10th-grade MCAS tests. And I am
outraged. 

These tests are designed to promote failure. Professor Ken Goodman, from the
University of Arizona, calls Arizona's similar high-stakes test "Pedagogy of the
Absurd." Get-tough exams test the wrong things in the wrong ways for the wrong
reasons. Consider the following facts related to how smart Massachusetts
students really are: 

In 1999, 78 percent of Massachusetts students took the SAT. Even with this high
participation rate, their scores were above the national average. They even rose
six points from the previous year. According to SAT results, Massachusetts
students are getting smarter. 

In an international mathematics and science study, only eight out of 41 nations
outscored Massachusetts students in math. In science, our students did better
than every country except one. How could we do so well internationally yet so
poorly in our own backyard? 

In international reading scores the United States ranks second at Grades 3 and
8. Nationally, Massachusetts third-graders read as well as two-thirds of their
peers on the 1999 Iowa tests. Yet, according to the MCAS test, 80 percent of
Massachusetts fourth-graders scored below the "proficient" level. What
happened to these good readers between third and fourth grade? 

If, according to the MCAS tests, more than half our kids are failing or need
improvement in math, English, science, and history, why do they perform so well
on national and international indicators? What purpose is served by making
Massachusetts public school students appear so unprepared on our own tests? 

The MCAS tests are not benign minimum-competency exams. Some nationally
respected educators call them cruel and abusive. If you study the whole test, the
13-plus hours each for grades 4, 8, and 10, you see the absurdities clearly. Find
them on the Web at: www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/student/stusamp.html See for
yourself if the questions test knowledge necessary for an informed democracy. 

Public school teachers, educational researchers and many parents are
speaking out against these tests. Why does the chair of the Board of Education
insist that we "stay the course" with this vehicle that is controversial at best and
has proven harmful on too many fronts? The MCAS test is not the "best tool" we
have for improving public schools. Tests do not improve learning. The MCAS
distorts the original intent of the Education Reform Act of 1993. It denies that our
system includes multi-talented students with a variety of backgrounds, learning
styles and career goals. 

These tests are dismantling local control over public schools. The pursuit of
higher MCAS scores has resulted in a lowering of academic standards even in
schools that traditionally test high. The Lincoln-Sudbury High School faculty's
statement presented to its School Committee is a powerful example of this
concern. "We ask that the School Committee take on, with us, the responsibility
for educating the local communities about the danger that the state's reforms
represent to their schools and, most important, to the intellectual growth of
students." 

I am a public school teacher and I expect to be held accountable for the learning
that takes place in my classroom. But I know that high stakes are not
synonymous with high standards. I believe that the MCAS tests are the single
greatest obstacle to finding solutions of substance to the problems facing
schools today. The MCAS tests do not begin to assess all that is important in
classrooms, and learning, and children's lives. What to do? Contact
www.massparents.org. Come to an informational meeting for parents,
educators, and concerned citizens on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. at Wright Hall, Smith
College. Ask a teacher about the effect of the MCAS tests in the classroom.
Trust our professional concerns. Ask a student, then listen. Really listen. We
have smart kids. They deserve better from us. 

Linda Sarage teaches sixth-grade at Breor Elementary School in
Hatfield.