Massachusetts education officials released the spring 2017 MCAS test results on Wednesday and fewer of Newton’s students met or exceeded expectations than in years past, the Newton TAB reports.
But Newton School Superintendent David Fleishman explains that this not because our kids are not as smart but because the test has changed.
It would be great to hear how our school committee candidates feel about MCAS and standardized testing.
In the past 10-12 years I can only remember one candidate for School Committee who opposed MCAS, and he lost. This is part of the problem with the SC, they gravitate heavily toward group-think…
Personally, I continue to believe that MCAS and other standardized testing played a major role in Newton Schools precipitous slide from the best in the country status we once enjoyed. That’s not to say our schools aren’t good. Thanks to great teachers and administrators they’re very good. But anyone who’s been in Newton a long time recognizes the ground we have lost.
Governor Baker spoke of this on the radio yesterday. There is a new system in place which greatly affects the new results. The teaching quality is still high.
As I told the TAB yesterday businesses have been asking for years for tougher MCAS tests that reliably measures whether or not our students are prepared for 21st century jobs and the challenges of our new economy. These scores reflect a new, more difficult test.
But I’m again going to invite our school committee candidates to weigh in other this. It would be great to hear your thoughts.
My son has taken versions of the MCAS and the PARCC and then MCAS v2. While the test should determine if our schools are teaching children, I am concerned about having all this different types of test on the kids. MCAS starts in 4th grade (I think) and with all these different versions that my kids have taken, are we stressing our kids out more by changing them every year? Some years is paper and some years is computer. These tests can last weeks in the elementary schools. I am concerned that the current student body is being used as guinea pigs. Current 10th graders must pass math and English MCAS this spring in order to graduate, and they have been tested on five different versions of this high stakes test. This isn’t a Newton issue but a state wide issue. I want a measurable test but I don’t want the children to keep taking different versions of a test!
Let’s also hear from SC candidates. We have a problem. I see no introspection from the school committee and the Newton Public Schools on how well we teach. There is a ton of talk about the “achievement gap” but there is no talk about general education. Even when it comes to the achievement gap there is still no report card of program effectiveness.
The SC needs to insist that David Fleishman reports on NPS performance every year. Are we doing a better or worse job educating students in math, reading, writing, and reading? How are we doing on graduation rates? Acceptance into 4 year colleges? Where do we need improvement?
Even better let’s compare our performance to the peer group of Brookline, Weston, Wellesley, and Wayland.
The bad news is we are failing our children in the areas of writing and math. The good news is we are doing well on civil rights history.
Here is a question for the school committee. What is the State legal minimum number of hour for math and writing instruction? How many hours do Newton students get above the minimum?
I echo Mike Striar’s comments.
Didn’t you guys get the memo?? The School committee is just the board of directors of the school system. They don’t handle such inane details as MCAS scores lolol….don’t come to them for day to day issues. This is what we’ve become.
The bottom line is all that matters, who cares about the human element of the school system like teachers, students and parents…lolol…
This is the first year of a new test so it is meaningless to state that test scores are down vs the prior year since you are not comparing apples to apples. In Newton my oldest child in ms has taken MCAS the old version, PARCC with pencil & paper, PARCC on computer and now MCAS 2.o on computer.
FYI Kids start taking these tests in the 3rd grade. Way too much time is spent on these tests and that is just taking them. It is very stressful for the kids. My younger child was so worried and stressed. I tried to reassure her that the tests were nothing to worry about and were to help determine how the school was doing teaching. I remember as a kid taking assessment tests but now these tests have taken on too much importance… The rankings etc. I was proud when my children’s elementary school did well but more proud that they emphasized the importance of recess and letting the whole child develop. In the elementary grades in particular we need to make sure we are having developmentally appropriate expectations for them. Give them time for recess, limit homework and install a joy of learning!
Stating scores are down when the test is different is inaccurate and misleading. That should be removed.
What is highly concerning is that many school districts performed better than Newton on the new test. I echo others’ comments that it would be good to hear from SC members, whether it’s on the value of testing, or the relative performance of our schools generally.
Paul hit the nail on the head. Although the test is new, we can still compare Newton’s performance on the test relative to the rest of the state to our relative performance last year. Even though the test is new, this comparison is valid.
There’s not a lot of transparency with the current school committee. I’ve been disappointed in the current committee and I would love to hear from them more frequently on a variety of issues, this included. I am hoping that if we get some new blood on the SC they can change the “group think” trend that Mike mentioned. I’m cautiously optimistic about Miller, Ray-Canada, and Shen.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has now set the bar higher for our students. To better assess the mastery of skills needed to be successful in college and careers, the Next Gen MCAS are more rigorous. In addition, the score required to achieve “exceeding” and/or “meeting” expectations has increased.
One of the other goals set by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education was to look to national and international benchmarks during the development of the next-generation tests. Massachusetts continues to be first, or tied for first, in the latest administration of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 2015. But about half of Massachusetts’ students are still not reaching the Proficient level on the NAEP. Nationally, only about a third of students reach the Proficient level. When designing the test, NAEP was used as a lens.
Because of this the state projected and expected that student results will be more in line with the most recent results of the NAEP. There are fewer students achieving in higher categories, not because student learning has been lost, but because the state is applying a higher standard.
One very welcome change from the last two years of testing is that MCAS 2.0 provides “item level” data. This has not been available with PARCC testing during the last two years. This means that we can now review individual questions within the test and see how our students at each grade level and in each school fared. Using item level data allows a school to look at what it’s doing well in terms of teaching skills and concepts and where work is needed to improve what we are teaching and how. This is all part of a healthy “growth mindset.” We acknowledge what went well and what didn’t go well and figure out how to improve.
An MCAS report and discussion is on the agenda for the November 14 school committee meeting.
Margaret thanks for becoming our first school committee candidate to share your thoughts on this. It would be great to hear from others.
@Margaret Albright thank you so much for the honest and knowledgeable response to the MCAS testing. It’s been a very long time since a SC person has been so straight forward; here’s hoping your candidacy becomes a seat on the committee.