INFORMATION ON THE MCAS TEST

· The MCAS assessment represents very high standards and expectations, possibly the highest in the country. It also requires a very different form of response from students with 50% of the score being determined by open-ended response items. We support these high standards, the higher order thinking required by the test format and the enhanced learning these will produce over time.

· The first results of MCAS are designed to validate the test, its content and process and to serve as base line data from which each community can measure progress over time.

· MCAS is closely linked to the new state curriculum frameworks. MCAS is intended to measure whether individual students and school districts are achieving the benchmarks indicated in the frameworks. The frameworks have a dual goal. First, they define statewide what all students should know, understand, and be able to do. Second, they advance the required general level of achievement for all students.

· Meeting the standards set forth in the frameworks requires two changes. Because the standards differ from current practice, they require realigning local curricula, purchasing new materials and texts, and engaging staff in long-term professional development. Second, because they require high standards of all students, districts must extend practices that set higher expectations for students. This requires adjustments on the part of teachers, administrators, students and parents. The curriculum frameworks, on which MCAS is based, have been in place for at most two years. Aligning curriculum and teaching techniques is a complicated, time-consuming process, which requires extensive staff development opportunities for teaching and support staff. It also requires standards-based curriculum materials, many of which are still in development. The more progress we make in creating this alignment the better the MCAS result will be. Progress requires hard work over an extended period of time. East Longmeadow is making changes in curriculum and teaching practice to meet the standards set by the frameworks and MCAS.

· We take the position that level one performance is simply not acceptable, and accept the responsibility for reducing the number of students in level one to zero. A student who performs at level one will not have any viable options as an adult.

· The MCAS standards are very high. Because of this, the average student is likely to score at level 2. While our goal should be to move as many of these students to level 3 as possible, MCAS must provide for an appropriate classification for the student who works hard and accomplishes average results.

· The MCAS is not intended to be a college entrance examination. MASS continues to support our original position that level 2 performance should be labeled "basic" and should satisfy the MCAS requirement for a high school diploma.

· Over the course of years, school districts should be held accountable for moving as many level 2 students as possible into level 3 and for moving as many students as possible from level 3 to level 4. Over the long run, as teaching and curricula alignment takes place, that will happen. Those are reasonable goals for which all educators can be held responsible.

· The test is a measure of the cumulative effect of education, and we should exercise caution in making decisions about schools, especially in grade 10, that have had these students in their schools less than two years when the MCAS is given.

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· In addition to the MCAS, there is a need for a more independent examination of the test and its validity and reliability. Also, as the state continues to administer the MCAS, there are several issues that the state should monitor, with the assistance of an independent review board, in order to ensure the test accomplishes its goals. Some of those issues include:

* Is the MCAS appropriate for students with significant special needs?

                    *       What is the impact of issues over which schools have no control – such as poverty, first language acquisition, etc.) on student results and inter-

district comparisons?

* Do all the test questions align with the curriculum frameworks?

* Does the length of the test impact results?

* Is the test of a student's math or science skills overly dependent on the student's reading ability?

* Will the current scoring system enable a school district to track individual student growth from grade 4 to grade 8 to grade 10?

* What will be the impact of the high stakes nature of the test on dropout rates?

* How does the preparation for and administration of the test impact time and learning?

· These results are not unexpected, and, indeed they are exactly what the Education Reform Law envisioned. The philosophy of the Education Reform Law is that, although comparisons of Massachusetts' students with their peers across the country are uniformly positive, it is simply not good enough. We must set a new standard, significantly higher than our current expectations for students. The results of this first administration of the MCAS are an indication that we have indeed set that standard. The task ahead of us will be long and arduous. The tenth grade examination, for example, assumes that students have been following the state curriculum frameworks for ten years, when, in fact, the students in this first examination have been exposed to those frameworks for, at best, two years. Although this will be a marathon, not a sprint, We are committed to ensuring that instruction will change to reflect these new goals and for improving student achievement.

Guide to the MCAS Parent/Guardian Report: This guide is designed to assist parents in reviewing their children's MCAS results and in understanding how MCAS scores are reported. The guide supplements the information provided in the Parent/Guardian Report.

Massachusetts Department of Education MCAS Information

EAST LONGMEADOW PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MCAS PREPARATIONS

MCAS Student Success Plans

Curriculum Development In ELPS

Retooling Our Curriculum

Professional Development Model for ELPS

ELPS Curriculum Aligned With Frameworks