My question to all three Democratic gubenatorial candidates (and their supporters) is this: What will you do to push back against the trend? Can we count on you to move towards minimizing the negative impacts of MCAS, and to help forward-thinking educators continue working to help our kids become productive citizens, not mindless test-takers?
While we’re at it, isn’t it time to insist that all holders of elected office take the 10th grade MCAS in english, math and science (they don’t need to pass; simply make their scores public)?
Please share widely!
None of these candidates would join Colorado, Utah, and others in pulling out of NCLB. So we’re stuck with it unless the law is repealed in Congress. Shame too — they’d pick up some committed supporters with such an intent.
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I asked this question to Gabrieli, and he spoke of revisiting NCLB, and making more room for alternative MCAS, but nothing really bold. He seems pretty knowledgeable of the system’s shortcomings, but doesn’t have a clear plan on it.
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Reilly’s education platform doesn’t mention any changes to the MCAS, or its role in evaluating students’ performance. I have heard some discussion about the system’s unfairness, but not much beyond that.
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Patrick — well, I can’t answer that one because I haven’t seen a consistent policy from his campaign yet. Given his stated preferences for merit pay and charter schools though, I doubt I’d like his answer (despite the AFTMass endorse). Maybe some of his supporters can jump in.
Patrick was the first candidate to offer a detailed education policy statement, including this:
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“Improve Assessment Tools. Higher expectations for student performance are essential. I support the MCAS, including the addition of a science component, as a high school graduation requirement. However, I do not believe it should be the sole assessment of student academic progress. Consistent with our objective to educate the whole child, we must develop and use additional assessment tools to measure other vital aspects of academic achievement.”
I said:
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Granted, Deval has a section up on his website about education, like everybody else. I’m sure that there will be something on that address for a while. But it keeps changing.
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At the moment, he supports charter schools on his website, but he’s come out against them at other times. I’ve heard him favor changing/extending the school year in speeches, but it’s not on his website.
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As for this quote:
This is the essence of my problems with Deval’s policy. It’s factually wrong, intellectually lazy, and purposefully vague.
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First of all, grades, AP scores, and SAT scores are an “assessment of student academic progress” and are used as such, to determine coursework, college access, and credit. He’s trying to say graduation requirement. I think — who knows?
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In addition, does he support something instead of the MCAS? Or, does he support something else on top of the MCAS, no longer rendering it the “sole” tool of assessment? Nobody can tell, much less what he would add/change. He was the first to release a statements because he’s been running for over a year, but with “policies” like these I still have no idea of what kind of governor he’ll be.
Check it out. It seems Bush told us he has a strategy for victory in education, and it isn’t working so well. Remind us of any other Bush plans?
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I gotta say, as a math/science teacher with 8 years experience in urban schools and 2 years laboratory experience in a materials testing business, a science MCAS test really bothers me. The best assessment of science learning is a teacher watching a student design an experiment to answer a scientific question, perform a lab experiment and write a report. That’s how scientists do science. And you can’t do that on a bubble-in-the-answers sheet.
That on the lt. gov side, Tim Murray is a full supporter of MCAS as a graduation requirement. So don’t make the mistake of voting for him if you care about education issues.
Lots of people who care about education issues support MCAS. Me, for example. I think Patrick’s position statement cited above is well said. Go MCAS!
As a teacher, school committee member, and a parent, I care a lot about education issues, and Tim Murray’s views on MCAS pose no problem for me.
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The problem I have with MCAS is not that it’s a graduation requirement, but that it does not address the needs of a cohort of students whose special needs preclude their demonstrating mastery through this type of assessment. Were the MCAS expanded to include a variety of assessment styles that address special needs, we would not have an issue.
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Here’s what most honest teachers will tell you who actually deal with this test, and right now that is math and English: in the absence of a documented special need, students should be able to meet the minimum requirements to pass this test with no problem. If a so-called regular ed kid has gotten to 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and cannot compose a five-paragraph essay that is cogent or read a short passage and answer multiple choice questions correctly, then something is drastically wrong–and I say this as someone who has taught English to public school students of all abilities from grades 7 through 12 for years.
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If I understand Patrick’s statement, the problem with MCAS isn’t that it’s a graduation requirement, it’s that we need even more requirements?? This seems wacky.
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I’m basing this not on being an expert, but rather, on reading various teachers posting that MCAS is a flawed measure of a student’s aptitude. (In addition to this topic, here’s another.)
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So the situation is, whether you’re for or against MCAS, you have to acknowledge that some people who should know have concerns about whether MCAS is even well suited to accomplish its basic mission. So when Patrick says,
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“I support the MCAS … as a high school graduation requirement. However, I do not believe it should be the sole assessment … we must develop and use additional assessment tools to measure other vital aspects of academic achievement.”
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That position can be translated as, “I want to take the MCAS, without addressing any of its issues and concerns, and expand it hook, line and sinker into other subject areas – thus multiplying the chances that a student may get barred from graduation for reasons that are not properly linked to aptitude.”
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If the teachers posting on BMG are any indication of the general sentiments of our teaching position, then I view that position is fatally negligent. I’d liken it to building a new airplane, testing it for awhile, and having nine of the ten designers say “It’s working great, let’s build more,” and one says, “No, the fuel valves are badly designed, they’re wearing out all the time, and they caused three near-accidents last year.” He or she may only be one out of nine, but you can’t build more planes until you examine the concern, and, if it’s valid, solve it.
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We need to look at the concerns being brought up with the MCAS, and find a way of addressing them before we even consider expanding the subject requirements.
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What teachers, at least as I see it on this site, are saying is that MCAS as an assessment for regular ed kids is okay, but does not currently meet the needs of the special needs cohort. “Expanding” MCAS means not only raising the bar–which needs to happen–but expanding the assessment style.
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What, exactly, is your specific beef with MCAS that has NOT already been addressed by the educators posting here?
I’m not sure how to respond. I referenced two teachers on this site who were criticizing using the MCAS as a graduation requirement. (One was the author of this topic.) I didn’t try to categorize them as “lots of teachers” or “the majority of teachers.” I just said, some teachers are saying this, and it needs to be addressed. I used the analogy of ten engineers (my profession), and if one of them is saying the design has problems, you need to look at the design. So as to your last question, I’m not trying to raise any new beef with the MCAS that hasn’t already been mentioned. I’m saying that it’s premature to move forward with expanding the MCAS when there’s serious debate as to whether it’s even working satisfactorily.
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I’m pretty sure I just repeated my last post point for point. So if you’re asking something else and I’m missing it, please clarify.
your definition of “expanding.” I see expansion as an opportunity to address the needs of students that are currently not getting addressed as well as an opportunity to refine the assessment and raise the bar.
…about keeping the MCAS as a graduation requirement but adding other subjects to the test.
Raising the bar and refining the assessment are unrelated steps. Of those, you can’t do step 1) until you’ve done step 2). And you definitely can’t add other subjects to MCAS until you’ve done step 2, otherwise you’re creating more opportunities to hold students back based on a flawed assessment.
Patrick’s position on education starts with the notion of educating the “whole child,” not just the academic test-taker, but the citizen, the consumer, the artist, the leader, the athlete, etc.
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Although website policy positions can be vague, I believe you have misinterpreted Patrick’s position on “additional assessment tools.” He is not talking about adding more subject area tests to the MCAS (although that process is under way under the current multi-year timetable for implementing MCAS).
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From Patrick’s website:
District schools in particular are compelled to overemphasize the MCAS, ignoring additional educational assessments that address the “whole child.”
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[Sorry, I don’t remember how to put a grey box around that quote.]
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When educators (and Deval Patrick) talk about assessments in addition to the MCAS, they may be talking about portfolios of work that would include research papers, artwork, industrial designs, public speaking, videos, science projects and a bunch of things that can’t be demonstrated on a standardized test.
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Take a look at Howard Gardner’s writing about multiple intelligences, and how different people learn in different ways. Patrick may never get down to that level of detail in his policy papers, but that is what educators mean when they talk about assessing the whole child.
is done with [blockquote] Four score and seven years ago…[/blockquote]
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only don’t use brackets, use “greater than” and “less than” symbols
…what matters is that these new tests, or new “portfolios”, or whatever, would be additional requirements for graduation. To be honest, if they’re “portfolios” it only makes it worse, because how do you tell someone they can’t graduate based on a sub-par portfolio?
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Or was Patrick not advocating that these additional items be graduation requirements? It looks to me like he was. But to be honest, what it really looks like is that he just tossed something out there without thinking about it.
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If there’s a hidden genius in his statement that I’m missing, feel free to explain.
I’m a former public school teacher, and a parent with 3 kids who have been and are in the public school system, so I definitely care about education issues, and I support the MCAS as a minimum graduation requirement. How anyone who cares about education issues support the graduation of kids, without special needs or language barriers, who can’t pass the MCAS is a mystery to me.
I personally see education as one of the biggest factors in everyoneâs lives. For this reason I am appalled at your statement that voting Murray as LG would be a sign you don’t care about education. Have you even read his stance on education, “Making the Grade”? or are you speaking blindly with more passion than facts, as you so often call SSL on. I am sorry to say that if our youth cannot pass a test that evaluates ones ability to perform some basic functions, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic; adequately then either they need more help, or our teachers need to do better (I feel the latter is less likely the case). Granted I am not a big fan of having one test determine someoneâs future, but done properly it could be improved.
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If you take the time to read “Making the Grade” you will see that Murray does not just throw the test out there and say good luck. He is proposing proper funding so the students who do have trouble with the test are able to get the assistance they need in order to learn the material that is necessary for one to compete in the world economy. He doesn’t just stop at funding for high school education, he looks forward towards secondary schooling as well (which has become increasingly important). He has the detailed plans for how education in Massachusetts can move forward and become a positive example to everyone.
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Also I would like to point out that I have not seen any of the other LG candidates come out with a detailed plan for education in the state of Massachusetts. If you know of any please send the links this way, I would love to read them. It would seem to me that if Silbert and Goldberg cared, “about education issues,” they would have some type of plan. (my intention is not to imply that they don’t care, but simply that its obvious Murray cares enough to write a stance on it, and it would be nice to see the others do the same.)
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I like to think of education as an investment in not only the students future, but all of our futures. And Murray is willing to invest the money needed in our futures.
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~John
“School is a building that has four wallsâwith tomorrow inside.”
-Lon Watters
Every candidate supports more funding for MCAS prep and education — the difference is that Murray wouldn’t scrap the test in the meantime, where it is arguably doing more damage to our public schools than good. As I have mentioned in other places, Murray’s position is in lockstep with Kerry Healey’s position — in the meantime, while we would like to provide more funding we should keep the MCAS as a graduation resuirement. Not an excess of passion, just the facts.
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I would suggest that you do more homework JJ.
As stated several times on this Thread, everyone’s favorite progressive candidate Deval Patrick is also supporting the MCAS. He also happens to be for charter schools, something I oppose, because it takes money away from our public schools . . . BUT none the less I still support him a bit more than the other 2 gubernatorial candidates.
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Those are the facts. No passion, just facts.
I am not at my home computer, so I don’t have the Globe article citation, but Patrick has said that he doesn’t support the expansion of charters for schools at the continued expense of school districts. He will work to find a new or more fair funding source that does not “rob Peter to pay Paul,” by reducing district resources in order to launch new charter schools.
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After all, the 1993 Ed Reform law was supposed to be revisited in 2000. It will be a big battle, but we are overdue for a tune-up.
Well I have been on the other side of this as a student taking MCAS and believe me any student with competent reading skills and arthimetic skills can ace this test. Calling the standards unreasonable only allows for more and more students to get high school diplomas that are nothing more than attendence certificates. I am sorry but the MCAS would work if cities and local districts actually used the diagnostic portions of the test from the elementary levels to raise the stabdards of the kids that failed the elementary tests before they get to the high school. Being in a freshmen literature class where ninth graders dont know what a verb is really makes you understand why our public schools are failing our kids and why MCAS can be used as a good tool. Unfortunately politicians are using it as the ONLY tool and the ONLY means of assessment and the MCAS system creates an end all game where schools that are labeled failing become MCAS testing centers. But we cannot get rid of the test or the valuable data it gives us, nor should we remove it as a graduation requirement. What does need reforming is the national NCLB funding scheme that punishes schools with reduced funding when they really need more resources to fix the problem, and how the NCLB law is administered in MA with the MCAS, thats where the problem is, people have demonized the test instead of actually looking to where the problem is.
…the MCAS is def not an unreasonable test, it is quite basic knowledge. I wasn’t in the top math classes and yet i breezed by that portion as I did the rest, if it was unreasonable being in the lower math classes would have hurt my score.
As I stated in my original comment I would love to read their plans for education in Massachusetts. Since you seem to know their positions I was wondering if you would happen to know if they had a plan written up as Murray does. And if they do could you please send me the link, I would like to read them.
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And I have done my homeowrk, the only thing I have not yet found is where Goldberg and Silbert have outlined their plans for education in Mass, and I asked above for the links if any such plans existed. Talk is cheap in my book, if you want to back up your position (meaning the candidates) you should write out a plan that shows what exactly your goals are, and the best way to acheive them. Murray is so far the only candidate I have seen with a plan for action.