A message in the test: Some say MCAS pushes kids out of school
by Galen Moore, Boston NOW
July 12, 2007
Boston public high school dropout rates jumped last year, and educators and parent organization seek answers to the problem. Today, BostonNOW talks to people who point to the MCAS standardized test's role in the decision to drop out.
Students who don't pass the MCAS are more than 10 times more likely to drop out of school, state figures show. Critics of the standardized test say it has a chilling effect on students - especially those who have already been held back a grade.
"It pushes kids out of the school system," said Rep. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford).
Alfie Kohn, a Belmont author and MCAS critic, said the test might drive educators to hold back students who cannot pass. "Many [students] get the message," Kohn said. "They don't have to be shown the door."
In Boston, where dropouts reached 9.9 percent last year, educators take seriously the decision to hold back a student, said district spokesman Jonathan Palumbo in an e-mail.
"We find it has a far more 'chilling' effect to promote students who have not mastered the work to the next grade," he said.
In fact, the picture is more complex than MCAS alone, said Dropout Recovery Specialist Emmanuel Allen, who works with the Boston Public Schools.
A "very small handful" of dropouts cited MCAS fears; most don't buy into school, he said. "They don't believe school's going to get them where everyone's telling them it's going to get them." Real voices
Two Boston high school dropouts talked to BostonNOW about their reasons for leaving, and why they want to come back.
"There was like too many kids acting up. The teacher had to call their attention. It was all everybody just talking at the same time. I really didn't hear anything." Eddie Cordova, 22
"I met a girl that was three years older than me...I was like listen, if...she's letting me know how much of a man I am, why am I in school? Men don't go to school." Calvin Thomas, 19