{"id":217,"date":"2012-04-03T19:54:29","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T19:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/?p=217"},"modified":"2012-10-12T16:10:47","modified_gmt":"2012-10-12T16:10:47","slug":"mcas-positive-or-negative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/mcas-positive-or-negative\/","title":{"rendered":"MCAS? Positive or Negative?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n
\r\n \r\n <\/i>\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/span>\r\n<\/div><\/div>

\u201cThe MCAS tests hurt kids. \u00a0Thanks to the Ledger for focusing on those kids who may have skills but cannot pass a written test. \u00a0But please don’t forget our third graders trying to read a sixth grade level item, and becoming sick over the test. \u00a0Don’t forget our 10th grader contemplating dropping out, and closing the door of opportunity forever. \u00a0And don’t forget the private and parochial school kids who escape this whole disaster. \u00a0Money, it seems, walks to non-MCAS schools, the way Board of Education Chair Jim Peyser’s kids do. Public school is about opportunity, and opening doors. \u00a0MCAS testing closes doors for thousands. \u00a0We should end it immediately.\u201d
\n-Paul J. Phillips<\/p>\n

Mr. Phillips has a very strong opinion about the MCAS testing- and so do kids all over Massachusetts. It may be reassuring- as students- to know that adults feel the same way, because Mr. Phillips is an adult. Go back to the section of the quote, that talks about third graders getting sick, tenth graders dropping out, and the worst part: the fact that private school students don\u2019t even HAVE to take the test.
\nIn this article, you\u2019ll hear both sides of the argument, and from all ages.<\/p>\n

People Who Think MCAS is Good<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cStandardized testing gives teachers guidance to help them determine what to teach students and when to teach it. The net result is less wasted instructional time and a simplified way of timeline management.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince all students in a school are taking the same test (with respect to grade level) standardized tests provide an accurate comparison across groups. (For example, this makes it easy to see how boys are performing as compared to girls in a particular school or district.) Over the years great improvements have been made with regards to test bias, which has led to more accurate assessments and comparisons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMCAS is not the be all and end all, and as long as I am superintendent it will not be the be all and end all,\u201d Gobron said. \u201cWhen it counts, when it is a question of graduation, we perform extremely well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople make it a big deal, calling it the \u2018Massachusetts-Child-Abuse-System!\u2019 Just do it, it isn\u2019t that bad!\u201d<\/p>\n

People Who Think MCAS is Bad<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that MCAS is just not necessary! And if you have to do it, two open responses is enough! Don\u2019t give kids five! If you\u2019re testing on reading and writing skills, two responses should be enough!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a waste of time, and some of the questions are confusing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI get really stressed, and know that I don\u2019t do as well as I would, if it were just a normal quick test.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMASSACHUSETTS-CHILD-ABUSE-SYSTEM!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really stresses me out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that you\u2019ve heard both sides of the story, say in the comments what you think, your honest opinion. I personally feel all of the negative things: It stresses me out, I know I don\u2019t do as well, and it is a waste of time.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe MCAS tests hurt kids. \u00a0Thanks to the Ledger for focusing on those kids who may have skills but cannot pass a written test. \u00a0But please don’t forget our third graders trying to read a sixth grade level item, and becoming sick over the test. \u00a0Don’t forget our 10th grader contemplating dropping out, and closing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220,"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions\/220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waylandmiddleschool.org\/orange_black\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}