Thursday, December 14, 2000 Older Editions

Kids take on MCAS, verbally: Varying opinions of crucial state test

By Adam Groff

Andover students who have taken an MCAS test view it with a range of emotions, from apathy to anger.

Two groups of Andover High School students spoke with the Townsman about their thoughts on the test recently, one group in a meeting arranged by Andover High and another group while gathered at a local bagel shop.

Test subject -- Lauren Woo, 16, is one of several students who say graduation should be based on four years of grades, not on the state's MCAS test. Photo by Tim Jean

As Andover schools continue to digest the results of last spring's MCAS test, school officials have said that interviews with students will form one component of their analysis.

Student performances on the tenth-grade exams have particularly attracted attention because of a failure rate higher than that in other grades. Seventy-five tenth-grade students failed the math portion of the test, and 49 failed the English portion, out of 388 who took the test.

But Andover High Principal Peter Anderson said that because these students did not need to pass the test to graduate, these results are not a good indication of students' abilities. "You'll get a better indication next spring, when it's tied to graduation," he said.

(The current class of tenth-graders, who will take the test in spring 2001, will be the first class for whom the test counts toward graduation, in 2003.)

Anderson's thesis seemed to be supported by a group of juniors in the less formal setting of Bruegger's Bagels, where five girls seated around a table sipping coffee uniformly confessed to feelings of apathy and annoyance about the test.

"When we first started to take the test, I tried," said Caitlin Rubenstein. "But it was so long that by the end I didn't care anymore."

Kaitlin Haugh agreed. "I read in the paper about students doing bad on the test as a form of silent protest," she said. "We didn't protest, we just didn't care."

"Some of us wrote essays about why we hate the MCAS," said Kara Spang, referring to the open response questions on the test. The other girls nodded in agreement. "Or we wrote little stories."

"Some of the questions were just ridiculous," Spang continued. "They were on things we never heard of and never studied. I have a friend who failed, and she gets almost all Bs."

Elysia Yet complained about class time lost because of the test. "Some of us were in mixed classes with kids from other grades who weren't taking the test," she said, "and those classes just went on, and we had to catch up after the test."

"If this counted toward our graduation, we'd have had a different attitude," said Amy Galluzzo. "We'd still be mad, but we'd have tried harder."

Two sophomores present at the high school interview will be taking the tenth-grade exam this coming spring, and they are part of the first class that needs to pass the test in order to graduate. They took the eight grade test in 1999.

"I thought (the eight grade test) was painfully long and difficult," said Sean Bartley, 15. "And I don't like the way our teachers have had to teach to the test. Every Friday was like 'MCAS day,' and that's all we would learn about in our classes. Our teachers stressed it, because they understand that it's a reflection of the job they're doing."

"I personally don't feel that the test should determine graduation," said Lauren Woo, 16. "It's not a fair test of what we've learned in four years. Graduation should be based on grades; personally, it's hard for me to take tests, but I'm an A/B student."

Freshman Liz Palotta, 14, who took the eighth-grade exam this past spring, agreed. "If you're having a bad week or a bad day on the test, it shouldn't reflect on three years of learning," she said.

The students also commented at length about the amount of time spent preparing for and taking the test.

"Everything in our classes stopped for two weeks, and then we had to pick up where we left off afterward," said Palotta, who also noted the heavy writing requirement on the test. "We wrote 13 essays in two weeks."

For sophomores, pointed out Woo, "It takes two weeks out of their year when they're preparing for the SATs, which matter for their college."

Sophomores generally take the PSATs that year in preparation for the SATs.

Junior Andrew Ong, 15, who took the tenth-grade test this past spring, said that for that reason, and because his class does not need the test to graduate, it spent less time in preparation. "It didn't really count," he said, "so our teachers didn't spend that much time on it. We were preparing for the SATs."

"The amount of time that goes into them is amazing," said Bartley. "I have no problem with standardized testing, but I have a problem with the way they're doing it here (in Massachusetts)."

Woo agreed. "We're not completely against them," she said. "We're just struck by the way they're presented."