1) end open admissions, and require some evidence of readiness for college
beyond a high school diploma (or GED), or
2) provide an alternative certification for students who prefer to take
studio and vocational courses to distinguish their background from that of
students who are ready for college-level academics.
The chances of the first one happening are slim to none.
I agree that graduation should not be preconditioned on passing a single
test. There should be *several* assessments, which may or may not take the
form of standardized tests (hopefully not). If a student is to receive a
certification (HS diploma) of having achieved certain objectives, then there
needs to be some objective measure of having met them, and if the
certification is supposed to represent having met all of them, then the
student shouldn't get the certification until all have been met. It has
become increasingly clear that simply passing a series of courses is
insufficient. I'm not a fan of standardized tests, but something is needed,
and if the test is anything like the one in Florida, they will begin
offering it in grade 10, and then allow the students to remediate and retake
as often as needed through grades 11 and 12 to pass.
There is no good reason why this should exclude any sort of innovative
curriculum--if it is sound and well-designed, all the needed objectives will
be covered. Again, many of the constraints are caused by the mind-numbing
uniformity of the measures currently in place(and the reward system set up
for meeting them). We all know that multiple choice tests, followed by a
three-paragraph essay, are but one of many tools for finding out what
students know and can do.
In short, before launching into critiques of assessment measures, one has to
consider what the resulting certification is supposed to represent, and
whether it is to be meaningful or valuable. Almost by definition, it cannot
be meaningful or valuable if *everybody* has it. It follows that, to be
meaningful, the standard will have to be set so that some people don't meet
it. Ms. Martin and her companions will have to decide whether their diplomas
are to be entryways to the next level or pieces of tissue paper, and if they
want the former then they will have to accept the administration of some
rigorous assessments that they *must* pass. In the meantime, it would be a
good idea to supplement the art, cooking, auto repair, and photography with
some logic, rhetoric, philosophy, and economics. Oh yes, and some math.
-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy Sattler
To: 'AMATYC listserve'; 'Mars Project'; 'Sheri Bidwell'
Sent: 16.06.99 14:18
Subject: [MATHEDCC] FW: A student's perspective on MA's exit exam
FYI
Nancy
---------------------------
Patsy Wang-Iverson <wang@rbs.org> on 06/12/99 11:59:04 AM
Please respond to wang@rbs.org
To: timss-forum@rbs.org
cc: (bcc: Stan Loveman/OAI)
Subject: A student's perspective on MA's exit exam
Hello,
Following is a message posted by Joy Wallace to the ra-equity list,
which was written by a high school sophomore.
Patsy
---------------
>This was in the Boston Globe on May 30th.
>
>ESSAY
>On the MCAS test, 'NO' is the right answer
>
>By Eleanor Martin, 05/30/99
>
>On May 17, a dozen sophomores at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School
decided not to take the state mandated Massachusetts Comprehensive
Assessment Test, better known as the MCAS. I was one of them.
>
>For weeks we had carefully researched the political and moral issues at
stake. We were aware that it was going to be difficult to refuse the
test. When you are a sophomore in high school, it is not easy to go
against the orders of your teachers, your advisers, your school, and
your state. We were not certain of the punishment that we would receive.
Detention,
suspension, expulsion? All had been mentioned as possibilities.
>
>When we announced what we were going to do, we received a lot of
opposition. We were told that we were going to bring down the
cumulative score of our house and of the entire school. But we believed,
and still do, that the reasons for fighting this test are more important
than any score.
>
>Beginning with the class of 2003, high school students who fail the
MCAS test will not be able to graduate. We believe that a single test
should not determine the success and future of a student.
>
>How can four years of learning and growing be assessed by a single
standardized test? There are so many things that students learn
throughout high school - how to play an instrument, act, draw, paint.
They learn photography, how to program a computer, fix a car engine,
cook tortellini alfredo, throw a pot, or design a set for a play. Many
students say these are among the most important skills they learn in
high school, yet all are skills the MCAS fails to recognize.
>
>The MCAS test is expected to take over 20 hours of class time. No test
should take that much time out of learning, especially not one whose
supposed rationale is that students are not learning enough in school.
>
>The material on the MCAS is very specific. For students to do well,
teachers must redesign their curriculums to teach to the test. Districts
and school administators, eager to show high scores, have pressured
teachers to create units based on the material. Because the test is
based largely on memorization of facts, teachers will have to teach
their students these specific facts instead of teaching for deep
comprehension and understanding of the material.
>
>Students who have been in this country for only three years are
required to take the test. How can someone who has been speaking English
for three years be expected to write essays with correct spelling and
grammar, which is a requirement to receive a proficient score? Special
needs students are also required to take this test to graduate.
>
>Supposedly, this test will be used to evaluate teachers as well as
students. However, a test like this simply measures whether a teacher
teaches to the test.
>
>If the MCAS test is instituted in Massachusetts, the scores will become
a major consideration for parents when they choose a school for their
children. Schools will therefore want their scores to be as high as
possible. Programs such as Metco, which integrates inner city students
into suburban schools, may be discouraged since it has
been shown that inner city students do not score as well as suburban
students.
>
>We are also concerned about the future of innovative programs, such as
the Interactive Math Program, or IMP, which does not follow the
traditional progression of algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus,
but integrates these throughout all four years. Therefore, a sophomore
IMP student will not know the expected geometry curriculum, but will
know some trigonometry and calculus that is not included on the MCAS.
>
>Also, certain in-depth courses, such as ''Bible as Literature,'' ''The
Holocaust,'' ''Reading and Writing on Human Values,'' ''Women in
Literature'' and ''African-American Literature'' will no doubt be
off-limits to freshmen and sophomores because they are not geared to the
MCAS.
>
>My humanities teacher in eighth grade used the ''Facing History and
Ourselves'' curriculum, which spends about eight weeks teaching in
incredible depth about the Holocaust. We learned about Nazi propaganda
and how it compares to propaganda used today. We examined the causes of
the Holocaust, confronted the difficult philosophical and moral issues
it raises, and focused on what we can do to prevent it from happening
again.
>
>This is one of the best educational experiences I have ever had.
Because of it, I have a deep and complex understanding of the
Holocaust. All the dates and facts that I learned may not stay with me,
but I feel certain that my understanding of the event will.
>
>We are worried that such innovative and respected curriculums as IMP
and ''Facing History'' will become casualties of the MCAS test
mentality.
>
>We are not saying nothing should be done to improve public education in
Massachusetts. We are simply saying that taking a paper and pencil test
to graduate is not the way to amend education. Massachusetts has already
spent $24 million on the MCAS test, and an estimated $14 million more is
being spent this year. Roughly that same amount will be spent every year
the test is given. We could use that money in better ways - for more
staff
>developers, teacher workshops, improved bilingual education, better
school supplies, and better fine arts and technical arts programs.
>
>This is our last chance to raise awareness about getting an education
that is not standardized, but meaningful, deep, and personalized. We
believe an education like that is worth working for.
>
>Eleanor Martin is an honors student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High
>School.
>
>This story ran on page E3 of the Boston Globe on 05/30/99. Copyright
1999, Globe Newspaper Company.
___________________________________________________
Patsy Wang-Iverson
Research for Better Schools
Mid-Atlantic Eisenhower Consortium (http://www.rbs.org/eisenhower)
444 N. Third Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123-4107
w: 215.574.9300 x264
f: 215.574.0133
net: wang@rbs.org
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