(last update: 24-Dec-2004)
The Education Reform Act of 1993 empowered the Board of Education to set educational goals, specify academic standards, develop a statewide graduation requirement, establish a common curriculum (frameworks), and put together a system of school accountability. The law did not require that these separate objectives be achieved by means of one test. There is no mention of anything resembling the MCAS. We call for the same education reform, but without the MCAS.
Imagine education reform without the MCAS. No boycotts, no rallies and protests. Enthusiastic teachers, supportive school committees, happy administrators, engaged parents. We think that a spirit of cooperation can advance the education reform a lot more rapidly than the antagonism that now exists between the state and the educational establishment. Why can't we have that? Is the MCAS that offers no solutions worth the disruption it causes?
Let's keep the politics out of education. Let's rid ourselves of the MCAS and let's concentrate on the education reform itself.
Although many people are skeptical about the usefulness of a minimum competency test, the law requires that a test of a "mastery of a common core of skills" be instituted in the tenth grade as a graduation requirement. Section 29-1D of the Education Reform Act describes what such a test should include. The MCAS goes far beyond that. We call for a suspension of the MCAS as a graduation requirement until a suitable competency test that follows the original guides of the Education Reform Act is developed (more).
Using the MCAS as a sole indicator of academic proficiency is contrary to the Education Reform Act that specifically requires "a variety of assessment instruments", including "consideration of work samples, projects and portfolios" and "the cultural and language diversity of students". To fulfill the obligations of the law, for at least those students who have unusual circumstances, the state must provide alternative assessments (more).
In short, we propose a concise minimum-competency test that truly tests the basic skills. This test is to be used as a graduation requirement, as long as alternative assessments are available to those who need them (more).
We call for accountability that reflects all of the goals of the education reform. As taxpayers, we strongly object to the simplistic accountability offered by the state that is based only on the MCAS.
We want to know the things that are important to parents, such as class sizes, qualifications of teachers, availability of books and materials, extracurricular programs, dropout rates, safety issues, etc. We want to know what the schools are doing to provide an exciting and inspiring place to learn. The MCAS does not answer these concerns.
We want accountability that does not encompass only the schools, but goes further to include the Department of Education, the Governor's office, the Legislation, and the communities.
The current system equates academic standards with MCAS scores. A more meaningful definition should have two parts, one representing what society expects everyone to know; the other reflecting individual accomplishments based one's talents and abilities. We call for standards that are equally challenging to the best and the weakest students, and are not tied to a one-size-fits-all test. It makes little sense to have standards that are too easy for some and overwhelming to others (more).
The standards can be represented by a test or a series of graduated tests, as long as these tests are used to evaluate progress of schools, and not individual students. In other words, the state should only be concerned about raising the standards within the schools, as indicated by average scores, but should not be involved in grading individual students. That is the job of the teachers – they can grade students a lot more fairly than even the best test that the state can invent. This means that we can have a test like the MCAS, provided that it is not used for graduating or promoting students, and provided that it is interpreted along with other factors that influence school performance. Only in that context can the MCAS have a positive influence on the education system. (This does not preclude a test of rudimentary skills as a graduation requirement.)
The Board of Education was assigned the task of specifying curriculum frameworks – a certain body of knowledge that all schools must teach. This effort went too far when the MCAS was tied to the frameworks and schools began to eliminate art, music, gym, and innovative programs to give more time for test preparation. We call for frameworks that are less extensive, leaving time for exploring, creating, and investigating. We call for frameworks that are to be used as a guide, not a lesson plan (more).