The MCAS Blog

Testimony of Lisa Guisbond

Policy Analyst, FairTest

Regarding H. 4163 and H. 4164

Joint Committee on Education Hearing

September 17, 2009

I’m Lisa Guisbond, a policy analyst for FairTest, which works to ensure that school assessments are fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial. I am a Brookline public school parent and I had the honor to serve on Gov. Patrick’s Readiness Subcommittee on MCAS. As an engaged stakeholder in the Readiness process, I thank you for the opportunity to share my concerns about these two bills.

I agree with Governor Patrick that it is time for the next chapter of Education Reform. Unfortunately, these two bills do not tackle educational assessment issues that have enormous influence on our schools. Whatever the governance model, whether charter, Readiness, pilot or regular public school, we need an assessment overhaul to obtain real learning improvements.

My colleagues on the Readiness Project MCAS subcommittee and I reviewed research on assessment, MCAS, and high-stakes testing systems. Our subcommittee report noted an emerging consensus that the high-stakes MCAS has had the “unintended outcome of narrowing curriculum, modifying instructional approaches without consideration of what is developmentally appropriate, and has resulted in notable decreases in student engagement.” We said that such negative consequences are magnified in poorer districts, the very schools, districts, and students that education reform was designed to help. Moreover, “while overall exam scores are going up, the achievement gaps remain and drop out rates are increasing … among vulnerable populations.”

To create an effective blueprint for Education Reform’s next chapter, we must absorb the lessons of the last chapter. The emphasis on preparing students for MCAS testing has not helped overcome achievement gaps or prepare students for college work.  New science MCAS results, for example, reflect large disparities in access to excellent science instruction. Just 13% or fewer African American, Hispanic and low-income students scored Proficient or higher on the grade 8 test, compared to 47% of whites.

But the answer is not to focus on test preparation to boost science scores. As Boston science teacher Garret Virchick wrote to the Boston Globe*, “A strong grounding in science means having students do real science in school, not cover everything from anatomy to zoology in the hopes of making sure students ‘know’ enough to pass the test. Doing science is messy, takes time, and should be filled with lots of room for students to make mistakes … This is happening less and less as pressure to do well on these tests has become the mantra in public education.”

There are some positive and some negative aspects of the Readiness bills. However, unless we move our schools from a culture of test compliance to one of deep learning, strong student engagement, and steady improvement, we will fail in our long-term objectives. To do this, we need a true Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, as proposed in H. 3660.

*Virchick, Boston Globe, Sept. 10, 2009

In the 2009 cohort group alone, almost 2,000 students with disabilities failed to pass at least one of the high school MCAS exams, and didn’t graduate on time. 72% of the students in the Class of 2009 who failed to pass one or more high school MCAS tests had a disability. High school students who fail the MCAS are 13 times more likely to drop out of school (Massachusetts Department of Education, 2009). Download PowerPoint slides of these MCAS Results

Reasons to reform the current statewide assessment system (MCAS) in MA. include:

1. The withholding of high school diplomas because of the results on a single type of assessment instrument has resulted in the disproportionately high denial of diplomas to students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and African-American students.

2. Virtually all professional and scholarly organizations representing assessment experts agree that it is inappropriate to withhold a high school diploma because of the results on a single type of assessment instrument. All tests, no matter how well designed, are subject to error, and multiple test-taking opportunities do not rectify the flaws of a test.

3. Research indicates that high stakes tests, such as the MCAS, do not achieve their aims of (a) better preparing students for the work force or college, (b) closing the achievement gap between racial groups, and(c) boosting the academic achievement of high school students.

4. Research also shows that high stakes tests put students at greater risk for dropping out of school.

5. Test preparation and statewide testing has diminished instructional time during the school day. State-mandated testing is occurring on 15% of the days students are in high school. Important skills are being neglected because of the excessive attention being given to preparing for specific test items.

House Bill 3660 would:

1. Reduce the overreliance on single type of test by using a variety of assessment approaches, including state and local tests, and portfolios.

2. Help create a truly comprehensive statewide assessment system and reverse the tendency to teach a specific set of test items.

3. Encourage instruction of the broad array of skills that students need to be successful in the 21st century.

4. Create a more balanced approach to student assessment, including student products and demonstrations that closely parallel the types of tasks students must perform in post-secondary education or real-world work settings.

5. Encourage district-level accountability and assessments that are strongly linked to improvement efforts.

6. Produce an assessment system that maintains high standards, is cost neutral, and eliminates the negative effects of high stakes testing.

You can find the names and contact information of your state representative and senator at: http://www.wheredoivotema.com