My friend’s eyes filled with tears as she told me what happened to her son in his fourth-grade bilingual program. It was spring and the students were getting ready for the MCAS. The pressure was intense. There was a month of preparation followed by two weeks of almost daily MCAS tests and traditional testing.
Waiting for the bus one day just before testing started, Carlos said to his mom, “I want to run in front of the bus. My teacher said the test is really important. I’m too scared!”
Terrified, his mom arranged for counseling. After several months of counseling, she sent him to an alternative school for the last four years of grade school. He thrived. He went to school every day, he completed his homework assignments proudly and he wrote haiku poems and short stories. His self-esteem improved and he blossomed into a creative and imaginative writer.
Then came high school – a culture shock, with ninth and 10th grades so different. Again, Carlos slumped and became discouraged; he was a mediocre student. When spring of 10th grade arrived, it was time for MCAS. And so began his stomach aches, headaches, insomnia, maybe even skipping school on testing days. His mom found out later that he hadn’t even completed the MCAS and therefore, had no score.
Ultimately, he graduated high school through an alternative diploma program, tried unsuccessfully to make a go of it at community college and, for the past 15 years has been a low-wage worker in the service industry.
My friend’s pain about her son’s struggle was the same struggle that had burdened me daily as a Boston schoolteacher and administrator. I had been forced to abandon programs that encouraged students’ creativity not assessed by MCAS in exchange for time on test prep and testing. The countless days wasted on prep robbed students of their imaginations and the joy of learning. When I heard Carlos’ story, I wondered how many other students ended up like he did. How many of them were left behind?
Susan Markowitz, Oak Street, Cambridge
A stronger
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I have a close friend and her son in fourth grade broke down in terror that if didn’t do well on the ny regents that he would be responsible for his teacher being fired. He had nightmares and was afraid to go to school. I just can’t believe this is still happening.
You know something? It’s not the MCAS’ fault. It’s CPSD’s.
The MCAS is designed to flag failing schools and districts, and is really good at that. It helps us recognize other things like achievement gaps too. It’s not as good at that, but it’s a lot better than nothing.
It’s not intended as a vanity project for school administrators trying to bump their resumes up.
The pressure on Carlos came from his teachers. The pressure on the teachers came from the administrators. It was entirely fabricated by the adults in the room engaged in educational malpractice.
Teachers have tenure. Was there a reason the teacher spent a month on test prep instead of teaching? Is there a reason the teacher lied to kids, pretending the MCAS was important? None of that is necessary.
Parents — and kids — can opt out too. With the exception of 10th grade, by far the best response to test abuse by the district is to opt out. Instead of sending Carlos to an alternative school or to counseling, Carlos could have been sent on a trip to Europe, Asia, Africa, or South America. Or he could have simply answered ‘A’ to every multiple-choice question and zero to every numerical one. That’s his right.
If enough kids and parents do that, and make clear why, the district will stop abusing the exam, since it won’t inflate those resumes.
Let’s keep the MCAS. Better yet, let’s improve it. Let’s make it adaptive, like iReady. Let’s add portfolios and richer assessments to it.
But most of all, let’s blame all the people at fault here for abusing the MCAS, for abusing kids with the MCAS, and let’s hold them accountable for doing better.