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MCAS Driving Students Into GED Prep
SPRINGFIELD - Amando Feliciano is the first to admit he's having a hard time keeping up.
"The demands are coming from all over the spectrum," said Feliciano, director of the Springfield School Department's Adult Education program.
Over the past few months, the number of people seeking help in passing their GEDs has dramatically increased. Programs that once tested 20 students a week are now testing up to 100.
Why are people suddenly signing up for Graduate Equivalency Diploma classes in droves?
"MCAS is the No. 1 reason," said Feliciano. "Some students drop out of high school and get a GED just so they don't have to deal with the rigors of that test."
Even area colleges are feeling the dip in high school graduates, some even resorting to such drastic measures as eliminating the admissions requirement of a high school diploma or GED.
Although state education officials have said the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test has not contributed to a significant increase in dropout rates statewide, the rates among certain groups of students are astounding. According to Feliciano, 50 percent of Latino students and 33 percent of African-American students quit school before their senior year.
Some students, Feliciano said, are dropping out as early as ninth grade rather than face the test. Others who never go on to ninth grade are not reflected in dropout rates, painting a rosier picture of the test's effects than what may be the reality.
In the school year that ended in June 2001, the dropout rate exceeded 9 percent for Springfield ninth-graders, compared to an overall dropout rate of 3.5 percent statewide. Overall dropout rates were 8 percent in Springfield, 8.6 percent in Holyoke and 5.9 percent in Chicopee - down from a high of 9.6 percent the previous year.
"By age 16, students know there's a way out if they're having trouble in high school," Feliciano said.
Marta Montalvo of Holyoke knew even sooner than that. By the time she reached age 15, Montalvo decided high school and its high-stakes testing just weren't for her.
She had a baby and dropped out of school. Now, at age 20, she is resolute about getting her GED. She's been trying for three years and blames test failures in the past on severe math anxieties. And while Montalvo is determined to earn a GED, she becomes "a little discouraged" each time she fails the test and gets bumped back on the waiting list.
It's a common scenario.
Waiting lists for GED and other adult education classes are so lengthy that only 3 percent of those who need adult education classes are enrolled, according to Feliciano.
At the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Springfield, Gloria Colon is director of a series of English classes for adults whose native language is Spanish. Long waiting lists, she said, cause prospective students to fall between the cracks. "It takes a lot of courage for them to finally make the call for help and when they're told they are wait-listed, sometimes we never hear from them again," Colon said.
Currently, 250 people are on the waiting list to attend classes at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center; that translates into a wait that could stretch anywhere from six months to a year, Colon said. In addition, employees field about 10 phone calls a day from adults seeking to sign up for literacy training.
"We lose a lot in the process of waiting," Colon said.
The dire need for services in the region - and the impact illiteracy has on the area's economic potential - are among reasons for an effort that aims to stem the tide of illiteracy in Springfield, Holyoke and Chicopee, and ultimately Lawrence. The LiteracyWorks program, funded with an initial grant from the Commonwealth Corp. and managed by the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, is aiming to make literacy help more accessible.
Holyoke, Lawrence and Springfield are the poorest communities in the state and have the highest percentages of residents who speak English as a second language.
For Marta Montalvo the thought of giving up is never too far from her mind.
"Sometimes I think I'll never have a comfortable life, but deep down inside I know I will make it," said Montalvo, who aspires to become a nurse practitioner and move with her 5-year-old daughter to Florida.
These days, at 20 years old, Montalvo could easily be among the oldest students in a GED class.
Classrooms that were once filled with adults in their 30s and older are now brimming with teen-agers too young to hold a driver's license - teen-agers who have said no to MCAS. The shift has placed a severe strain on the limited resources communities have available to meet the literacy needs of adults.
And the MCAS is not only affecting GED class enrollments, the test is having a significant impact on colleges.
At Springfield Technical Community College this year, for example, students will not be required to possess a high school diploma or GED for admission. Instead they will have to take the Ability to Benefit Test for Federal Standards.
Kevin Drumm, vice president for enrollment management and student affairs, said the new testing policies are a direct response to the MCAS. As a community college, STCC traditionally required applicants to "have at minimum a GED in hand" for admittance.
But children who fail the MCAS or drop out of school have a hard time passing the Ability to Benefit Test, Drumm said. Combine that with the fact that the Spanish version of the GED will be phased out this year and it becomes clear why schools like STCC may have to revamp their policies as a matter of survival.
"A lot of students aren't taking the MCAS," he said. "So, we're targeting that audience - all those students who wouldn't be eligible here because they didn't take or pass that test."
George Kohout, technology coordinator for the System for Adult Education Support at Holyoke Community College, said higher education schools like HCC are having to redirect resources to help students who have not graduated from high school.
HCC, which accepts students who do not have high school diplomas, is among schools that are enhancing support services such as tutoring and counseling for students who do not speak English as a first language, he said.
They are also encouraging faculty to enroll in professional development classes so they are better equipped to meet the needs of incoming students, he said.
"The system was tapped out even before MCAS," Kohout said, referring to literacy programs. "But now with that test in place it's precipitated the problem."
— Azell Murphy Cavaan
MCAS refugees flock to GED
masslive.com
2003-09-08
http://www.masslive.com/news/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1063006225322720.xml
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