MCAS, AYP and Cambridge 2005

Wednesday, I attended a press conference held by the Commissioner of Education in the Cambridgeport School. The Commissioner was at Cambridgeport to honor the school for having a higher percentage of students in the "advanced/proficient categories" and a lower percentage in the "warning" or failure category than other schools of similar demographics in the state.

This is the third time in recent years that a Cambridge school has been selected to be "showcased" for progress on MCAS by the DOE. Previous honorees include the Morse and the Graham & Parks School.

But this year, the Morse is on the "Needs Improvement" list along with six other schools and the Tobin is on the "Restructuring" list (along with the Banneker Charter School).

According to our superintendent, CPS has improved the passing rate at nearly every grade level and we are closing the gap between our average and the state's average scores.

So what's wrong with our schools? How can they be improving and still end up on DOE hit lists?

The answer lies in understand the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) system put in place by the federal government as part of the No Child Left Behind Act. In simple terms, AYP is a system of numerical targets for MCAS Math and English scores for each district, school and subgroup (over 40 students) of students in a school. These were calculated to ensure that by 2014 every student in every school is scoring at "proficiency" on all tests. Each year that the target is not reached in any category, the penalties increase until a school faces potential takeover by the state or conversion to a charter school.

The problem is that this system is not based on education, at all. It is based on mathematical equations -- and the twin assumptions that schools can be turned around within a year's time and that test scores improve at a steady, linear rate -- none of which is supported by school reform research.

I believe MCAS can be used as a diagnostic tool to improve teaching and learning. The AYP system makes a mockery of that process and is being used to wrest control of schools away from local citizens.