The truth on testing
At a hearing last week on a bill that would impose a threeyear moratorium on the MCAS test, one teacher said she wants someone held “accountable” for the loss of instruction and special education services on testing days.
Interesting choice of words, given that accountability is one of the very reasons Massachusetts introduced the assessment system in the first place.
Prior to 1993, taxpayers in this commonwealth were pouring untold sums into public schools with no way to measure whether it was producing an adequately educated student body. Social promotion was common; students could graduate without anyone fully evaluating whether they had learned all, most — or even a fraction of what they had been taught.
MCAS changed that. In exchange for billions in new spending on public schools, Beacon Hill imposed new requirements for assessing student achievement. The MCAS test — and the requirement that students pass it in 10th grade to be eligible to graduate — meant a high school diploma carried new weight. It sent a message to employers and colleges and universities that a student who graduates from a public high school in Massachusetts has mastered core competencies. At the same time began a mighty struggle to close the racial and ethnic achievement gap and to help students with special needs pass the test. There is a long way to go, but there have been dramatic improvements in that regard.
But teachers oppose the testing system, in part because of concerns over its effectiveness and impact on teaching and in part because they don’t ever want the results held against them. The bill filed by Sen. Michael Rush — one of countless efforts over the years to water down or eliminate MCAS — would place a three-year moratorium on testing. It would also forbid the use of student test performance to evaluate teachers.
Rush’s bill would also dramatically increase spending on education — while eliminating the system that was set up to evaluate whether that spending is paying off. A giant step backward.
The bill comes as progressive groups are lobbying for a ballot question that would impose a new tax on millionaires, with the revenue earmarked in part for education. Good luck convincing voters that taxpayers should be paying more — while schools are demanding less. This bill should never see the light of day.