9486 in the collection  

Let Us Take Note of the Missing
On 7/17/2002, Boston school officials announced that a "significant number of the students in the Class of 2003 who failed the high-stakes MCAS exam in the spring of 2001 and who did not take the retest in December of 2001 have dropped out of high school."

Comment
Anne Wheelock notes that up to now Boston Public Schools seem to have had a policy of "see no dropouts, hear no dropouts, speak no dropouts," and that this report may indicate a new willingness on the part of Superintendent Payzant to consider the harm of the MCAS graduation policy.

Wheelock notes that "Over five years leading up to high stakes MCAS, the number of Boston students enrolled in 9th grade who fail to reach tenth grade the following year has more than tripled, rising from 513 students from Boston's Class of 2000 to 1,724 for the Class of 2004." She provides the following data.

Class of 2000:
Enrolled in 9th grade, October 1, 1996: 5,039
Enrolled in 10th grade, October 1, 1997: 4,526
Students "lost" between grades 9 and 10: 513 students.

Class of 2001:
Enrolled in 9th grade, October 1, 1997: 5,325
Enrolled in 10th grade, October 1, 1998: 4,574
Students "lost between grades 9 and 10: 751 students

Class of 2002:
Enrolled in 9th grade, October 1, 1998: 5,207
Enrolled in 10th grade, October 1, 1999: 4,340
Students "lost" between grades 9 and 10: 867 students

Class of 2003:
Enrolled in 9th grade, October 1, 1999: 5,634
Enrolled in 10th grade, October 1, 2000: 4,026
Students "lost" between grade 9 and 10: 1,608 students

Class of 2004:
Enrolled in 9th grade, October 1, 2000: 6,009
Enrolled in 10th grade, October 1, 2001: 4,285
Students "lost" between grades 9-10: 1,724 students


Some of us believe that numbers don't tell the story so vividly as real-life stories, but politicians and the media like numbers, so people should use these numbers in letters to legislators, letters to editor, in op-ed pieces, and when talking to parents. As Wheelock points out, "The MCAS requirement only narrows opportunity for the most vulnerable students in the Commonwealth. The costs of this policy are high, and we will be paying them for years to come."

Repeat this warning across the country.





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INDEX OF OUTRAGES

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