I have always been brought up to believe that learning was supposed to be fun. For most subjects, it is fun, well for me at least. But then there are those ones that you can’t hardly sit through because your leg is shaking so bad and all you want to do is take a nap. I thought about my educational experience in elementary and middle school not remembering being taught the crap for the MEAP test, but after thinking about it, I vaguely remember….
I remember getting up early for school and having breakfast already made for me, which was uncommon at my house. Having my parents tell me to do my best no matter what and to focus in school today because we were learning some really important stuff. (Does any of this sound familiar? It is exactly what the parents were taught to do in Massachusetts for their kids…) I would get to school and we would get donuts and orange juice in class and we would sit there and be bored all day. We didn’t get art class or gym because we had to prepare for the MEAP. Frankly I didn’t care, I hated both and we got food! But this is the part I think I blocked out, taking that test all day, and filling in answers without reading the questions because all I wanted to do was lay my head down and shut my eyes.
This situation is very similar for one girl in Massachusetts. She is 17 and the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. (This goes into what I talked about in my last blog.) She is a sophomore (she was held back when she moved) and is working really hard to take this test because her graduation depends on it. She gets to school early, goes right to class and pays attention because she may need to know what her teacher is talking about for the test she will soon be taking. She eats her lunch in the library and is glad when her math teacher says lets have two minutes of quiet. If I were her I would want that too. I think I would be a little bit frustrated if the only things I was learning were about some test that determines whether I get to graduate or not. But the test that she is taking is doing a lot of good things for the
Massachusetts school systems.
“When the state Legislature passed the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993, it created the MCAS test, established the 10th-grade exam as a graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2003 and demanded the creation of high standards for teachers and students.”
“In exchange, the Legislature promised more funding; it has pumped more than $19 billion in additional money over the past decade-plus into education.”
It seems as though Massachusetts wanted to get their education program up again, so by starting these tests, outside of NCLB, they have gotten so much money. Is that good for the students though? Are these tests helping or hurting the students? Are there more children not graduating because of this test, because all the state cares about is money and not whether their students get to graduate?
What do you think? I have yet to decide my opinions because they did post any statistics, but I am curious about what others think about the MCAS.
POSTED: 11:30 a.m. EST, January 29, 2007Full Article |
anns311 said
My topic is very similar to the question you asked at the end of your response. I am looking at the rate of students who finish school (either graduating or dropping out) and cannot read. I think that tests, like the one in Massachusettes definitely effects the students who struggle academically. I would be interested to know what their graduation rates are. In one article that I was reading, the drop out rate was reported from 10 to 50 percent. (50 percent was the rate for most intercity schools.) Do students faced with possibly failing these tests, just give up and quit? If so, are we doing anyone any favors by demanding these tests for graduation? It is really a difficult call. On one hand, I know that there needs to be some measure for ability, but the variance is so great. We shouldn’t punish students, we should encourage them to achieve their best, regardless of what that looks like.
I can’t wait to see what you find on these topics.
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