The "More" Child

The days are ever so slowly getting longer and soon there will be the smell of spring in the air. But before that there is the smell… of fear. Fear, you ask? Well February ushers in the standardized testing season, which really kicks into high gear in March. And for those schools which are at risk of not making their Annual Yearly Progress, the administrations are sweating bullets.

Here’s an excerpt from an area school newsletter:

Now that January is behind us and the days are getting longer, all of us are thinking about how nice it will be to reach spring break in March. This year, I’m a little uneasy about the vacation, however, because it falls just before the Maryland School Assessment. Our break is from March 21 – 28; we return to school Monday, March 31 and the MSA begins on Tuesday, April 1.

…we work hard to make sure our students are reaching high academic goals, and the MSA is the principal way in which we demonstrate their achievement. It’s also the accountability measure Maryland has chosen to comply with federal No Child Left Behind requirements, and it’s the basis for important programming and curriculum decisions for each student. It’s a big deal! Ordinarily we would never schedule such a significant event right after a vacation, but the MD State Department of Education sets MSA dates; we must follow the calendar they prescribe.

As you are planning for your spring break, please keep the MSA schedule in mind. Make sure your child is in school on Monday, March 31, rested and ready to go. We will provide practice materials to keep him or her focused over the break….

“Sweetheart, don’t forget to review those MSA worksheets before we head to the beach.”

Related to this is a little noticed letter to Jay Mathews that appeared in the Washington Post’s Extra Credit column this week: “Maryland’s High School Assessment is a Double-Edged Sword.” The author writes that Blair High School, home to two of MCPS’s pre-eminent programs, is on the list of failing schools, and as a result, 10th grade English has become focused on High School Assessment (HSA) prep. She writes that students are being told that the results of their prep exams will be used for placement, and that the the essay question grades will be used in their marking period grades. This despite a statement from Superintendent Jerry D. Weast that said, “HSA results have no relevance beyond the narrow purpose of measuring baseline content knowledge.” Hmm.

For his part, Jay Mathews basically blows off this parent’s concerns, saying that these tests are a necessary evil. Too bad. But I think I know what she’s getting at (and I understand that her letter was edited down.) Watered down test prep is supplanting actual subject instruction. And what’s more, even the kids who least need it are being subjected to it.

We’re not at high school yet, but I do know that every year starting in January I would start to hear a lot of complaining from C. about stupid MSA test preparation, the formulaic BCRs they had to write. Like clockwork, her attitude would take a dive in concert with testing season. Why, I wondered, couldn’t they trust that these kids who had been tested to within an inch of their lives to get into the magnet would pass the MSA with flying colors? Why couldn’t they trust that the “real” learning they were experiencing would be sufficient to pass a minimum standards test?

Jay Mathews agrees that “the HSA has little relevance to teaching’ but because “it has enormous relevance for public support and understanding of what schools are doing” concludes that students will continue to have to suck it up.