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Fewer than Half of MA Seniors Who Failed MCAS Plan to Retake Exam

Ohanian Comment: The press continues to repeat State Ed claims that 92% of seniors passed the exam. They bury the statistics on kids who never made it to their senior year. And then there's the subtle "blame the victim" message: "Not enough students are taking advantage of the extra help." And don't miss the mention that the upcoming exam is the sixth "opportunity" for students. Some opportunity. With opportunities like this you don't need catastrophe to stop you in your tracks.

Fewer than half of the high school seniors who failed the MCAS test have registered to retake the exam next week, state Department of Education officials said yesterday.

Experts said the further away the nearly 2,000 unregistered students are from their original graduation date, the less likely they will be to stick with their studies and try for a high school diploma.

``It's almost like a shipwreck where people get further and further apart. It gets harder to rescue,'' said Douglas Sears, dean of Boston University's School of Education.

In all, 4,178 members of the class of 2003 - or 8 percent of the state's seniors - failed the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam, according to the latest state records. Only 1,883 have signed up for another chance to take the exam, which they must pass to graduate.

Some students may not have registered because they are still waiting to learn if they passed the MCAS retest given in May, said Kimberly Beck, Department of Education spokeswoman.

``You just have to keep sending the same message, we're not giving up, we don't want them to give up. We're going to keep trying to find the right programs for them,'' Beck said.

But she acknowledged the more time passes after graduation the harder it will be to persuade students to pursue their studies.

``It's a lot more difficult if they don't stay actively engaged in pursuing the diploma,'' she said.

There are about 140 different MCAS tutorial programs available to students statewide. State and some local education officials have worried not enough students are taking advantage of the extra help.

Next week's exam is the sixth opportunity seniors have had to pass the exam, which is first offered in 10th grade. Students who don't take next week's exam, offered at five schools around the state, can try in November.

Some students get lost in the bureaucracy of signing up for the tests, said Brian Gallagher, who works for the Boston Private Industry Council finding jobs and tutoring for kids who haven't passed.

The program has placed 115 kids in work-study programs. But others who haven't signed up are frustrated.

``There are some students who are definitely feeling a demotivated factor here. `I've worked this hard and I don't want to fail one more time,''' he said.


— Kevin Rothstein
Kids pass on MCAS: Many who failed choose not to retake test
Boston Herald
July 22, 2003
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/mcas07222003.htm

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