School Committee reviews MCAS results with parents
Published on January 31st, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - MCAS was on the minds of parents and School Committee members last week as results from last spring's test were reviewed along with long term plans for addressing the state's standardized testing mandate.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Keroack spoke to parents on Thursday night regarding Stoneham's performance on the exam taken last May. She filled the School Committee in on the same at its meeting that followed.
In summary, Stoneham students in fourth, eighth and tenth grades performed well last year when they buckled down and filled in the blanks. The results of those tests were received by the school system in November and evaluation of the results immediately followed. This evaluation was presented for the first time on Thursday, along with action plans to address the more problematic areas.
In many areas, Stoneham outperformed the state average, proving that it can compete with wealthier area communities, whose economic resources presumably give them a greater advantage in providing quality education to their youth.
In tenth grade English, Stoneham, Belmont and Winchester scored highest in the area and outperformed Massachusetts school districts such as Concord, Wayland, Acton-Boxboro, Duxbury, Wellesley, Newton, Reading and Andover. While Belmont and Lexington scored highest on eighth grade English, Stoneham, Winchester and Reading were right behind them.
"It's amazing...When you see something like that, you need to give an awful lot of credit to the teachers," said Keroack.
The test is mandatory for public school fourth, eighth and tenth graders and, until this year, administering the MCAS has been considered preliminary while the state worked the kinks out. Yet, even though many kinks still exist, this is the first high stakes year - this year's tenth graders must pass the exam in order to graduate high school.
The state recently announced however, that students who do not pass the test in grade 10 have five chances to take it.
The weakest area for Stoneham was shown at the fourth grade level where scores failed to exceed state average as significantly as at the eighth and tenth grade levels. According to Keroack, this trend is in contrast to that seen in most communities which have witnessed highest performance at the fourth grade level with decreasing scores in each subsequent grade tested. Although fourth grade performance is a concern in Stoneham, Keroack stated that Stoneham's trend moves in the right direction.
While students have their share of difficulty in getting through the MCAS, the school department in Stoneham and other communities in the commonwealth face even tougher challenges in adjusting their curricula to respond to what students are required to know in order to perform well on the tests.
"We are managing as well as most ... in terms of alignment," Keroack said.
That job gets even more difficult when the test standards are in constant flux as in the case of the tenth grade History and Social Studies test, currently in its tenth version since 1995. However, the state recognizes this, said Keroack, and therefore passing this section of the test is not yet part of the graduation requirement.
For this and other reasons, the MCAS is controversial. Both Keroack and School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly expressed their concern to the School Committee regarding the state putting so much emphasis on this one measure of student performance.
"Tests are linear. Learning is messy ... This is just one measurement. We can't forget that there is other learning that must go on in the classroom," Keroack said.
"On one hand, Stoneham has performed well on the MCAS, but what have we sacrificed?" asked Connelly.
"It's communities like Stoneham that have very positive scores that really need to speak out...and express our concern with the format and the over-emphasis of the MCAS as the one assessment that's going to dictate what happens..."
School Committee member Mary Carey agreed, stating "Parents need to stay aware of what's going in the state...There may come a time where the parents themselves have to get together and try to do something if the educational community can't."
The Stoneham school system is gearing up for the next go-round, and a new group of fourth, eighth and tenth graders will get their crack at the test which will be administered again this May.
And while the state's test continues to evolve, Keroack summed up the Stoneham School Department's goal.
"What does not change is our commitment to provide our students with the opportunity to learn."
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