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Gambling on the Future

In nearly every state in the union, high-stakes tests are now required both for K-12 students and for teacher candidates seeking initial licensing. The tests are more than deserving of their name--in many states, the ultimate stake for students is graduation from high school, and the stake for teacher candidates is entry into the teaching profession. Numerous commentaries locate the high-stakes testing movement within the context of larger discussions about the need for improved instructional skills and more professional teacher licensing procedures, on one hand, and for higher learning standards and more public and standardized assessments of students, on the other. Unfortunately, many of the larger discussions about testing are also connected to the long history of criticisms of teachers as mediocre students, "semiskilled" workers, "less-than-literate" individuals, and members of a minor or "not quite" profession. Although many states are embroiled in major controversies about high-stakes testing for students and teachers, Massachusetts--once regarded as a leader in terms of its support for K-12 and higher education--now seems to enjoy the dubious distinction as the state that has earned the greatest national and international negative publicity about high-stakes tests. Some recent events from Massachusetts make this point, including the following: * In June 1999, some 20,000 Massachusetts teachers marched to the State House to protest what they referred to as "a year of teacher bashing," a year that began with dismal test scores for prospective teachers publicized worldwide (59% of initial test takers failed) and with the Massachusetts Speaker of the House referring to teachers and their teachers (i.e., teacher educators and schools of education) as "idiots" (Vigue & Daley, 1999). * In May of this year, hundreds of Massachusetts students, teachers, and parents protested the state's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam, which by the year 2003 will be required for high school graduation. A petition with more than 7,000 signatures calling for repeal of the law that requires the test was carried to the governor's office by student protesters. Speakers at protest rallies across the state included spokespersons for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, and parents and students from urban, suburban, and rural Massachusetts schools and school districts. Protesters publicly rejected the test, which African American and Hispanic students fail at higher rates than do White students. They argued that it unfairly "punishes students" in urban areas and those from low-income families. Young people carried signs with giant red slashes through the letters MCAS, and other students carried placards with the words "MCAS = MORE CHILDREN ARE SORTED" (Vaishnav, 2000). This ingenious (and, from my perspective, quite accurate) rendition of the MCAS acronym is not unlike some of those invented by angry adolescents who, near the beginning of the 16 testing sessions it would take to complete the test, told their counselors that "MCAS" really stood for "MASSACHUSETTS CONSPIRACY AGAINST STUDENTS" (D. Krause, personal communication, April 18, 2000). * Also in May, the Massachusetts State Board of Education approved the testing of teachers who teach math in school districts where 30% or more of students fail the math portion of the MCAS test. This new regulation is one of the most recent in the country to mandate testing of veteran teachers. Based on test results, the failing teachers (of failing students) will be required to undergo additional training and professional development but will not be fired. Termination was to have been the result of test failures for veteran teachers in legislation brought forward last year by Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci. …