"Science MCAS stymies many; 6,000 seniors still lack passing score Other data show improvements" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff | September 3, 2009
Approximately 6,000 high school seniors are in jeopardy of not graduating next spring because they have not yet passed the new science MCAS exam, state education officials announced yesterday, possibly setting the stage for a new revolt against the 11-year-old standardized test system.
I've got a very simple test for you: Student Science Question For Obama
The students, members of the first class that must pass the science exam in order to receive a diploma, will have at least two more chances to take the test before school officials face the difficult prospect of barring them from the graduation stage.
Those who do not pass by graduation day would probably have to delay any college plans and return to high school for more science instruction, then take the test again the following February. Or they could instead try to earn a General
The seniors’ plight surfaced yesterday as state education officials announced the results of the spring’s MCAS exams, which showed progress at most grade levels in most subjects, but a lingering disparity between students from different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.
Although state education officials expressed concern about the failure rate in science, they emphasized that the problem is not nearly as widespread as earlier this decade when passing the English and math MCAS exams first became a graduation requirement, starting with the class of 2003. When those students entered their senior year, 19 percent of them still had not passed one or both of the tests.
This year, 10 percent of seniors have not yet passed all three test subjects, with failure on the science exam representing by far the largest chunk. “I’m always concerned if students are not being successful,’’ Mitchell Chester, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, said in an interview. “But I do think holding onto this requirement [passing the science exam] is the right thing to do. It’s important to prepare students for opportunities after high school.’’
Also see: No Apple For This Teacher
Chester said the state is working with individual high schools to help students pass the exam this year, but officials also are preparing for an onslaught of requests from high schools to exempt students from the testing requirement....
Seven years ago, the prospect of more than 10,000 high school seniors not graduating because of MCAS failure led to several revolts, including an unsuccessful lawsuit on behalf of some students and threats from a handful of school committees that they would award diplomas against the state’s wishes....
I love it when locals assert their rights!
So far, that level of anxiety appears to be largely absent this year, several educators and statewide education groups said, but that could change once individual students and their parents learn they are among the 6,000 who failed the science test....
How would like to open that letter?
Marilyn Segal of Citizens for Public Schools, a grass-roots nonprofit that opposes the MCAS, said the science exam risks turning students off to the subject, short-circuiting the state’s goal of trying to grow a larger workforce in the areas of health care, high-tech, and bio-sciences....
It ALWAYS GETS BACK to the AGENDA, doesn't it? I NOTICED that a HISTORY DEGREE is NEVER CALLED FOR (sigh).
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Was state-sponsored lies, but I did pay for them and the experience wasn't all bad; it was were I first found the Internet and 9/11 truth!
Also see: Back-to-School Series: America's Economic Development
