THE
CHALKBOARD
In MCAS
twist, some students may not feel challenged
By Laura Pappano, Globe Staff,
Recently released MCAS scores showed that 95 percent of the class of 2003 and 89 percent of the class of 2004 have passed the test to earn a diploma, prompting Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll on the state Department of Education website to say the results "show clearly how far we've come."
That may be true for most students, but the brightest among the 20 percent of 10th-graders scoring "advanced" in English or the 24 percent earning "advanced" in math, probably haven't traveled far.
Schools find it easier to focus on the every-child-can-learn mantra that, while true, doesn't acknowledge that very bright kids are cheated.
Rather than "raising the bar" -- the cliche connected to talk of MCAS -- the high-stakes tests and federal No Child Left Behind law may be feeding a get-them-over-the-hump mentality that leaves top students out of the lesson plan.
"This test has got us into a situation where once you achieve a certain level, you might be forgotten by the school system because you've met a benchmark," said state Representative Geri Creedon, Democrat of Brockton.
Creedon has filed legislation requiring courses in gifted education for teacher certification and better tracking of top MCAS scorers. The bill, discussed last week at a State House hearing, is more volley than punch. But the point is clear: Don't forget the smart kids.
"The focus has been on those who have failed. We need to point out those who have succeeded," said Representative Peter Larkin, Democrat of Pittsfield, a cosponsor of Creedon's bill.
Funding for the Certificate of Mastery, which awarded state higher education tuition waivers to top MCAS scorers, was recently eliminated, and $350,000 for gifted education was cut two years ago.
While some states have formal definitions of "gifted," here the term refers to students with IQs of 130 and above, with students having IQs of 145 and above described as "highly gifted." But unlike many states, which mandate services for academically gifted students, we leave it to local districts, which often view programs as "frills" or politically tricky, especially in high-performing districts in which all parents want special attention for their child.
Yet, Ruthanne Allen, coordinator of Barnstable Public Schools' Gateway Program for gifted children, said programs can help teachers manage the wide range of demands in a class. "Differentiated instruction" -- edu-speak for teaching kids at different levels at the same time -- is a great idea, but most teachers can't pull that off alone.
"It is the special teacher who can do that," said Allen, who said gifted students need their lessons adjusted like students with learning disabilities do. Right now, she said, "you may have 20 full-time staff for the struggling learners and one person four days a week to work with your more able learners."
Nancy Malakhoff of
"Classrooms are MCAS-driven," said Malakhoff. "A lot of the stuff kids like Katrina found exciting ---- like teachers doing a poetry unit -- if it's not on the MCAS, they don't teach it anymore."
Such claims are backed by research. Tonya Moon, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and part of a research team with the National Center for the Gifted and Talented, did a two-year study of state standardized tests and gifted students. Research shows more teachers spending time on test preparation, including using worksheets mimicking state test questions, Moon said. "Those things that are not assessed on the test no longer have a place in the classroom," she said.
Moon, who surveyed 2,500 teachers and visited 50 classrooms, said cuts in art, physical education, and field trips -- even science and social studies -- make school less engaging for gifted students. Moon reports some administrators have so pressured teachers that standards "have become more like a checklist."
Moon doesn't blame tests and standards. "It is the way in which they are being used," she said.
That's a key point. In Belchertown, Swift River
Elementary principal Gary Millett, chairman of a community-wide committee that's
created a five-year plan for gifted and talented education, said MCAS scores
revealed kids performing below expectations.
"We were not getting enough of our brighter students into the higher levels of the MCAS," she said. "We were allowing them to grow too slowly for their ability."
This is a common worry: that the drive to get everyone passing minimum standards is lowering the bar at the top.
Mark Andersen, chair of the Massachusetts Association for Gifted Education, believes school curriculum is well designed for children "at the lower end of the spectrum" but not for the gifted.
Andersen said his second-grade son reads at a sixth-grade level and is absorbed in a 150-page book about the Underground Railroad -- but will focus on typical second-grade work of spelling three- and four-letter words.
Many think gifted kids can manage on their own, but
that is a myth, said James J. Gallagher, education professor emeritus at the
That's not likely to happen soon in
But luckily teachers like Christine Hufnagel believe it is their job to push. She helped sixth grader Christopher Davey join the Steppingstone Foundation, which prepares educationally underprivileged students for competitive high schools and exam schools.
"I saw something very special in Chris," said the
fifth-grade teacher at the Ohrenberger School in
More critically, Christopher, now knows, as he says, that "I'm smart."
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