Mass business proposal

[Karen Hartke <Khartkeft@AOL.COM>]

This is big news in Massachusetts:  yesterday the same leader said we were 
heading for a train wreck.  This is one of the big business groups that have 
been advocating for a higher standards system, based on passing MCAS.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
         

         Business leaders offer MCAS series
                  diploma plan 

                  By Doreen Iudica Vigue, Globe Staff, 08/03/99 

                  A group of business leaders pivotal in pushing
education
                  overhaul in the state has now drawn up a proposal that
would
                  create a ''series'' of diplomas for students who must
pass the
                  MCAS test to graduate high school.

                  Jack Rennie, chairman of the Massachusetts Business
Alliance
                  for Education, said business leaders are concerned too
many
                  students will fail the mandatory Massachusetts
Comprehensive
                  Assessement System test in the year 2003 when all 10th
                  graders must pass to get their diploma. 

                  ''The whole business community is behind me on this,''
Rennie
                  said. ''We're supposed to be the tough guys and we're
making
                  moves to stimulate a lot of discussion.''

                  The group, formed in 1988 to advocate for higher
education
                  standards, will present its multipoint recommendations
to the
                  state Board of Education in the next few weeks. The
Alliance
                  has been working on its plan for two months and is
fine tuning
                  it.

                  It calls for the state to develop a ''series'' or
''family'' of
                  diplomas based on how well a student performs on the
MCAS:
                  Highest honors, high honors, honors, and basic, so
fewer
                  students who do poorly on the test will be sent back a
grade or
                  discouraged entirely by the exam and quit school
completely.

                  But State Board of Education Chairman James A. Peyser,
who
                  has not yet seen the report, said Rennie's concerns,
though
                  valid, are premature and could lead to their own kind
of chaos.

                  Peyser said since the Board and the Department of
Education
                  have not yet determined a passing grade for the MCAS,
Rennie
                  is making ''a premature assumption'' about the failure
rates.

                  In the first round of MCAS tests in 1998, 14 percent
of 8th
                  graders failed the English portion, 42 percent failed
in math and
                  41 percent failed in science. These students will be
the first
                  who will have to pass MCAS to graduate.

                  Scores for the second round of testing, which took
place last
                  spring, have not yet been released. The state
considers those
                  results ''baseline'' and not an exact determiner of a
school's
                  ability to educate.

                  Education overhaul already calls for a two-tier
diploma system,
                  where some students pass local and state requirements,
                  including the MCAS, with either a high-level
certificate of
                  mastery or a basic one of competence, but Rennie said
that
                  system is not broad enough.

                  The Alliance is recommending that the state adopt a
system
                  similar to one in New York state, where students are
granted a
                  local diploma, then a regents diploma upon passing an
                  assessment exam.

                  ''If, as we suspect, that in 2003 there would be high
failure
                  rates in some schools and districts, 20-30 percent of
kids would
                  be turned back to the 12th grade, but there would be
no
                  provisions for that, no room, no teachers,'' said
Rennie. ''It
                  would be chaotic.''

                  Rennie also said the current plans would open the
state up to
                  lawsuits by parents who feel the test is unfair and
set up to
                  ''punish kids.''

                  Under the Alliance plan, there would be room for
failure of one
                  subject on the MCAS, but not in math or English,
Rennie said.
                  He also said the state should allow students to be
tested twice in
                  science, once in the 10th grade on earth and general
science,
                  and then again in the 12th grade in chemistry and
biology, to
                  give students time to properly learn the subjects.

                  He said that a ''school academic indicator'' should be
counted
                  toward graduation, to be put together by teachers and
                  administrators to reflect the ''non-MCAS'' things
students do
                  well at in school.

                  ''We want to find a way to still hold up the
standards, but at the
                  same time as a practical matter, kids won't be able to
pass
                  unless we can make the test more reasonable,'' Rennie
said.
                  ''What we're trying to do is stratify things in some
way and help
                  kids find a way out in the early stages of the
high-stakes test;
                  we would not make ground to bash kids and make them
want
                  to drop out.''

                  But Peyser said he is concerned that, under the
Alliance's
                  proposal, there would be too many paths for a student
to take
                  to get a diploma, and that students may have grounds
for
                  complaining they got treated unfairly because of the
path they
                  were on.

                  ''The other concern is creating a multilayered system
where you
                  have different expectations for different students,
and that is
                  problematic,'' Peyser said. ''I'd like to keep the
MCAS system
                  and the graduation threshold requirement as
straightforward and
                  simple as possible. To the extent we create too many
variations
                  on the theme, we may end up confusing people and
                  undermining the validity of the requirement itself.''

                  State Education Department chairman David Driscoll was
                  attending a conference in Alaska and could not be
reached for
                  comment yesterday.

                  Deputy Commissioner Alan Safran said the board and the
                  commissioner will begin extended public discussion in
the next
                  several weeks on MCAS scoring.

                  ''The board and commissioner will have extensive
public
                  hearings and hope to adopt a passing score by January
2000,''
                  Safran said. ''This will be one of the most important
decisions
                  the board will make.

                  This story ran on page B2 of the Boston Globe on
08/03/99. 
                  © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.

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