Department of Education Commissioner David Driscoll announced that he will be retiring on August 31, 2007. As the man who "shepherded" the MCAS through lawsuits, accusations of discrimination, and considerable criticism by many, he stated in his retirement announcement that "testing is beginning to take too much time out of the school day, and more work must be done to reduce the fear surrounding MCAS." He adds, "There's been too much focus on testing". This, at the same time that he successfully pushed forward a plan to raise the bar on passing the MCAS for the class of 2010. The passing grade remains at 220, but if you score below a 240, you will have to meet a whole regimen of additional assessments to qualify for high school graduation:
- score "proficient" (score of 220) or higher on the Grade 10 ELA and Math exams
- maintain at least a 3.0 Grade Point Average in grades 11 and 12
- pass an Algebra II test that will be identified by the Department of Education
- demonstrate proficiency in writing through an assessment that will be identified by the Department of Education
- either complete a high school curriculum designed to prepare students for college and career readiness -or earn a Certificate of Occupational Proficiency
If these regulations went into effect this year, over 40% of the 10th-grade students statewide would need to meet these additional requirements.
What am I missing here? How does this reduce the time concerns and the fear concerns surrounding MCAS that the Commissioner is concerned about?
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