Here's your scores

The 2008 statewide MCAS scores were released Tuesday, to a variety of reactions across the state.
(The district and school scores are embargoed until next week.)

Globe coverage

This is the first year that science is a requirement, and 7% of the now-junior class (the class of 2010) didn't pass that exam. The other "didn't make it" stats: 42% of blacks, 46% of Hispanics, 15% of Asians, 13% of whites, 53% of those with disabilities, 39% of low income students, and 72% of those with limited English.

There was much from the state education powers-that-be on "an achievement gap to close," "scores indicate we are not there yet," and so forth. The question that wasn't asked (and continues to be avoided) is just what is being tested with the MCAS. Do these scores show us something about the students taking it? Or do they show us more about the test?

Tests are squirrelly things, as any teacher that put a question on a test can tell you. A question can be as clear as daylight to the writer, and be completely meaningless to even a well-prepared student. One can a take a test on a subject one knows well and still do poorly, if the test isn't a good assessment.

If you take a look at those stats above, some things about the MCAS become very clear. It's a test in English, so it's no surprise that those of limited English proficiency would struggle with it. You're testing multiple things at once there: working knowledge of English and whatever the test is on. The piece that is ignored in this state, and shouldn't be, is the rest of the built-in expectations of the test. In addition to your working knowledge of English, there are assumptions made by the test takers. The classic example of this is a test question on snow given to children in a part of the country where it never snows. If the question was designed to test your knowledge of literature, but you don't have the working background knowledge, then your ability to demonstrate your knowledge of literature is inherently limited by the test.

This is a notorious flaw in standardized testing. It warrants discussion in a state where all our educational measurements are based on a standardized test. You'd be hard pressed to find that conversation happening, though.