“This helps us create a sense of urgency around the parts of our education system that need to be strengthened,” said Chris Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and a member of the state Board of Education. “Given our economy, science will be a critical component of determining these kids’ futures.”
Isa Zimmerman, a former school superintendent seconds that emotion. A senior fellow in the office of the president of the University of Massachusetts, he told the Globe, “It’s upsetting that the scores are low, and a former school superintendent. We’re not starting the education of science early enough to capture children’s imagination and their commitment to those disciplines.”
Zimmerman is organizing a statewide conference in Sturbridge tomorrow to focus on strengthening the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and math.
It’s time we stopped treating test scores like Rorschach tests. There are some claims that can be advanced logically and honestly from MCAS scores, though often results are less clear cut than they might seem at first. But too many people are reading their agendas into the scores. Strengthening STEM education is a worthy goal, but it’s neither necessary nor (in the long term) useful to misinterpret test results.
Mark
That frontpage headline was irresponsible.
Of course, the scores were poor–it was a test taken by teenagers who did not need to pass it to graduate. Did anyone think they would all try their best?