A report released yesterday said students who are unable to pass the MCAS exam by their expected date of graduation should be offered continuing opportunities after 12th grade to receive a high school degree.
The report, which was released by the Joint Committee on Educational Policy, recommends targeted programs be developed in high schools, community colleges, local businesses and community-based organizations. These programs will provide students who complete the 12th grade but are unable to pass the MCAS with alternative pathways to help meet those standards.
“This report is intended to lay out basic issues and problems … to begin a process of determining concrete solutions,” said Board of Education Chairman and committee member James Peyser.
“The report is building on foundations and extending all of the programs that already exist,” he said.
The report mentions specific alternative pathways, such as expanding existing community college programs and better preparing students for the MCAS exam. Other steps include developing summer and evening classes at high schools for students who failed the MCAS by a few points.
The report proposes adapting existing adult education programs to include services to help students pass the MCAS. These programs will be geared toward recent immigrants and students with limited English skills.
Also suggested is the creation of an “All But MCAS,” or ABM, certificate to be given to students who completed all local requirements and are eligible for their diploma but still need to pass the MCAS.
Currently, each high school individually decides whether or not to issue a certificate to the students.
“I think that certificates should be state endorsed and not left up to the locals,” said committee member and Education Commissioner David Driscoll.
Driscoll said the board will address the issue of the certificate in the future.
“Our goal from the beginning was to create enough pathways so that anyone who wants a diploma will get one regardless of the situation,” said Stephen Tocco, chairman of the Board of Higher Education and fellow committee member.
“One plan doesn’t fit all, and I think that this addresses that,” he said.
Driscoll agreed with this idea, saying children shouldn’t be left behind by the testing standard.
“We have to treat the various kids on an individual basis. They are not all cut from the same cloth,” he said.
He added he has been seeing positive results.
“This preliminary report very well summarizes the role we need to play,” he said. “It’s a great start and is done in advance, which is so important.”
Peyser said committee is exploring the cost of the project for various reasons, including an unknown number of students who did not pass the MCAS and the expansion of existing community college programs.
It is difficult to determine the exact cost at this stage because the committee still does not know how many students failed the test, Peyser said.
Peyser said some money is already set aside in the budget submission, but the program needs to become a part of the regular system so that it will not be easy to cut, he said. He said the committee expects to have these pathways implemented when students are exiting high school in the summer of 2003.
The committee was formed by acting Gov. Jane Swift for strictly developing additional options that provide students with the time they need to pass the MCAS if they are unable to do so before graduation.
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