After MCAS game plan is now a key to success
Published on December 9th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - Now that the results from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Statewide Assessment System (MCAS) exams have been received by the Stoneham School Department, what will administrators and teachers do with them?
According to Superintendent Joseph Connelly and Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Keroack, receipt of these scores should clear up some questions which have been weighing upon the minds of school personnel for some time. Due to the passage of Ed Reform five years ago, the School Department has reviewed all major areas of education and implemented some of the state's new frameworks into the curriculum in preparation for state testing (MCAS).
In that sense, the Stoneham school system and others across the state have been proactive in beginning to prepare their students for the demanding MCAS exams.
The implementation of frameworks, however, is an ongoing and lengthy process, they explained. To date, Stoneham schools have met state guidelines in science/technology, but have not completed the overhauling of the math or english/language arts sections of learning. In addition, a social studies framework is also expected to be an area of testing in the near future.
"Time is a resource that we have to consider wisely," Keroack said when asked how the MCAS results would affect the progress of framework implementation. "Now we need to look at what we need to add to that curriculum."
Connelly explained that the process of overhauling one area of education is a huge task. One major hurdle in the process is the adoption of new textbooks in all 12 grades; a move which holds severe financial implications.
"In an ideal world, it would be a one year adoption, but, realistically with our budget, we can't do that," the superintendent said about adoption of a particular framework. "It's all budget driven."
Keroack did add, however, that another obstacle in the process of curriculum adoption is the time that teachers must give in order to learn the 20+ state learning standards that compose each major area of learning. These teachers must then take these learning standards and incorporate them into a day-by-day schedule of instruction.
"Analysis, examination and interpretation takes time," she said. "We're under the gun because of the MCAS. We have to make sure that we come in line with the state exam."
Now that MCAS results are in, the reactive work will begin, Connelly and Keroack explained. School personnel are now reviewing scores and are in receipt of the actual questions that their students had to answer. Based upon this information, teachers can mold their classes and courses further to enhance student learning. By the end of January, the various principals and department heads will formulate action plans for improving MCAS scores.
"The test is really testing where we are in the alignment process," Keroack explained. "We expect this first MCAS to be a starting point. We anticipate the scores at this time will not be where we'd want them to be two to three years from now. They'll give us direction of where we want to go."
According to Keroack, a large emphasis will be put on students who received needs improvement and failing grades on the exam. This will be accomplished by diagnosing the exams, the results of which will be available for each individual student. Also, the School Department will increase and realign its professional development.
Now in the very early stages of diagnosis, one area which has already been pinpointed for improvement is the introduction of trigonometry at an earlier age. Keroack said that the Grade 10 math exams included a large number of trigonometry questions while many students had yet to take the course.
"The specific questions are still being analyzed, though," she warned.
Although a final plan on how students will be mandated to perform has yet to be released by the state, it is believed that the Class of 2003 will be required to pass the exam in order to graduate. This puts added pressure on school departments around the state.
Of the low scores on the MCAS exam, both Keroack and Connelly said they weren't surprised. More work must be done within school systems and on the exam itself, they said, before it can adequately rate a student's educational prowess.
"If you keep in mind that much of this (exam) is about alignment and you look at (the scores of) surrounding towns, that's what the comparison should be," Connelly said.
Keroack agreed, adding that the MCAS questions may be harder than students in the fourth, eighth and tenth grades are used to. "Some of the questions on the exam are very rigorous. That's not a criticism, they really are," she said.
Connelly explained that the School Department will continue to grapple with the state standards in terms of its budget for years to come. While he conceded that the state has increased its stipend to Stoneham's schools in each of the last five years, he says that the increases aren't nearly enough to counter the ever-increasing cost of education in Massachusetts.
"The continued implementation of curriculum will have a major impact on the budget," he said. "That will certainly be a challenge. For a town like Stoneham, Ed Reform has meant a steady increase in money, but not a dramatic increase.
"But, we're not complaining because we'll take the money."
Connelly said that, whereas the Fiscal Year 1999 budget called for 10 additional staff members and forced major cuts in maintenance and, initially, in busing, the FY 2000 budget should be less dramatic. Although increased enrollment is expected to require at least two more teachers, a dramatic rise in staffing is not required, he explained. But, as always, there will be pressing needs in the budget.
"We're a growing community with a major building project that's about to get under way. This causes a major constraint in municipal spending," Connelly said. "We realize that the town is doing their very best to fund education.
"MCAS is not a basic skills test. It's a very high standards test. And now they're (the state) giving us five years until it's a high stakes test where you have to pass to graduate.
"We're just looking for steady improvement."
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