Thursday, October 2, 2008

What happens after MCAS

I haven't posted much on the local MCAS scores and reporting because, well, what is there to say? The scores are widely available. The Boston Globe and the Telegram and Gazette are always going to find something to bang the pro-MCAS drum about. But I did think the following articles on what happens after the scores come home to roost might be of interest:

SouthCoastToday points out that the new requirements mean that those who barely passed the MCAS this year (with a "needs improvement") will now have to take remedial classes and pass an additional test in order to graduate. As that additional test has not been designed or designated by the state, there is some question as to how this is going to work in practice.

The Cape Cod Chronicle
explains that in Chatham, the elementary students are losing a gym class a week (they had two; they're down to one now) for added MCAS prep.

And here, from that article, is this kicker that gets us all:
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools must not only improve their scores each year, but they must show an adequate rate of improvement, known as adequate yearly progress, or AYP.

Yes, that does mean that scores have to go up and up and up, forever. Do you know of anything else that does that?
(okay, maybe prices. But test scores?)

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