WGBH
Greater Boston Report: The MCAS Factor
By Emily Rooney
The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exams became a graduation requirement in 2003. The Massachusetts Department of Education says students who fail the MCAS are 11 times more likely drop out of high school. Critics of the controversial exams say the test an unfair graduation requirement. This “Greater Boston” report looks at whether the MCAS exams contribute to the dropout rate.
Studio Guests: Mitchell Chester, Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education; Louis Kruger, Northeastern University Bouve College of Heath Sciences.
Produced by Ralph Ranalli
April 7th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I am 63 years old my next birthday. I quit High School in January of 1966 to join the Navy. I served in Vietnam and returned to a society that didn’t like anything that I had done. I attended flight school and classes at North Shore Community College. In 1980 I packed up my home and family and moved to Salt Lake City for my job, and was glad I did. I attended the University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College. It seems that I keep returning to classes as I need the information. I have also found that the teachers are close to worthless with some glaring exceptions, going all the way back to the first grade.
I watched you show for about 20 minutes and could not take any more from your experts who, although well dress and well spoken, don’t know anything more then to spend more money. There was also a verbal dribble about urban environment, family background and social development . . . garbage.
If you truly want success, spend a small amount on testing two or three of the worst achievers for heavy metal exposure (hair test). It will produce surprising results and could alter futures.
I understand if you think it is to simple an answer . . . so continue to spend millions and get miserable results. Continue to argue about the rights of those who don’t speak English. Continue to grease the rails of your academic welfare with no tangible results . . . or . . . begin small with two or three students that will pay of in huge savings.
One of the failings in my case was that nobody paid any attention with few exceptions. I played baseball. That was too much fun so that was not worth encouraging me. I played Trumpet but was never allowed to play the kind of music I liked. Instead, I was forced to play and learn classical works . . . so much for the Trumpet. I was an excellent student in Mechanical Drawing. Plenty of promise there. To bad, the teacher was a drunk and wasn’t capable of paying any attention, except to his Vodka or Wine.
You know, I don’t know why I’m bothering right now . . . you didn’t listen to me when I was in High School, why would you pay any attention to me now, when I am not being handsomely paid, as your experts are.
By the way, if you do take my suggestion, you are looking for mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic, for starters.
Additionally, when I started the first grade I could not speak English, only Spanish and Italian. None of my teachers could understand me, but somehow I floundered through by only have to repeat 2 grades and quitting within 5 months from graduation.
Good luck . . . you are on your own.
April 7th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Yes, MCAS should be a requirement for a High School Diploma. Some measure of knowledge is essential when judging the value of a “High School Diploma.” Otherwise, you could just print one yourself and present it as a fact of graduation and the requirements needed.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:21 am
I think the MCAS the ridiculous. Teachers having to gear everything for students to pass a test is a waste of everyones time and talents. Some people are great contributors/learners but bad as “test-takers”. I’ve considered moving my child to Rhode Island because he is so “freaked” about the MCAS.
Also, his teachers are not just encouraged but “ordered” to have his fellow students teach one another. This “partner/group project” crap has severely damaged many of his grades. When only one child out of 3 is trying to carry the load, WHAT is that teaching??? I know that the TEACHERS are frustrated as well. When the MCAS first came out, Cellucci refused to take it and 1/2 the teachers couldn’t pass it. Massachusetts education is a joke, and is run by IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
April 8th, 2009 at 12:27 am
btw - What about the students cumulative record? Doesn’t that count for anything? My child excels at English/History/Music but Science/Math are difficult. Because he is scoring A’s in his best subjects & D’s in his worst; why should a test determine his worth as a graduate?? He’s not illiterate, speaks perfect English, can make change and balance a checkbook; but because he can’t “test” well in MCAS he doesn’t DESERVE a diploma??? ABSURD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
April 8th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Yes, the MCAS should be a requirement; it’s a minimum bar of education that students will need in order to make life decisions. Unfortunately, many kids probably don’t see it this way; if teachers focused more one why they are teaching the content rather than just trying to teach to the test students may be inspired rather than dismayed.
Further, I did well in school, but still considered dropping out as most of what I was learning seemed pointless, especially when I was already ahead of the pack. Sr. year was a bore, I couldn’t advance because they wouldn’t allow me to take English 4 early. English Calculus and Physics classes were completely un-engaging because I couldn’t see how I would possibly eventually apply them despite desiring a career in science. How can we expect students that aren’t getting good grades and have no career aspirations to have any desire to stay in school? We need more votechs; even colleges recognize the need for apprenticeships; look at all the schools now following the Northeastern model.
April 20th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Grade inflation is a natural phenomenon. Over the course of a school year it’s not unusual for a teacher to get close to the students in their class, often to the point where they’re (sub)consciously rooting for their kids to do well. Teachers need not be taken to the woodshed for their empathy.
Students often get the benefit of the doubt with a grade if they demonstrate a “good” effort. Ancillary factors such as class participation, attendance, extra credit projects, good behavior, homework regularity, etc., are not accurate indicators of subject matter mastery and can often be misleading grade inflators.
These grade inflators validate the need for impartially prepared and graded exams such as the SAT’s, MCAS, and NCLB exams. At the end of the day these tests prove to be much more reliable indicators of mastery of subject matter than teacher grades.