MCAS advancement
The Boston Globe
Editorial
July 31, 2003
Some 80 percent of the 4,179 high school seniors who have not yet passed the MCAS tests are not taking the retest this week. Whatever explanation state officials have for this, it means that some students are falling through the cracks. While the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System graduation requirement has proved to be a great success in elevating the language and math skill levels of thousands of students, one of its greatest dangers has always been that many students would fail to get diplomas and be knocked out of the economic mainstream.
As it turned out, the spike in dropout rates predicted by MCAS critics did not materialize. But the number of those in the class of 2003 who have not yet graduated is, by the estimate of educators, double or triple the rate in the past.
This should be an alarm bell for state education officials and local principals to seek out every individual who can be helped to acquire the necessary skills. President Bush has used the phrase ''no child left behind'' in his administration, but that has been the guiding principle of education reform in Massachusetts for a decade. The virtues of MCAS are undercut by every student not challenged to fulfill his or her potential.
--SNIP--
Paul Reville, head of the Center for Education Research and Policy at the nonprofit MassINC, says some of this year's MCAS flaws are ''maiden voyage kind of stuff, but they're getting it right next year.''
For this year's seniors, the number who have been shaken out in the MCAS shake-down cruise is much smaller than many had predicted, but each individual must be pursued. No one can be written off as a cost of reform.
