Improving MCAS scores so students can graduate on time depends on a combination of family involvement and improved classroom instruction, Boston Public School and city officials said yesterday at the launch of the 2002-2003 school year.
“We need help from parents in the community,” said District Superintendent Thomas Payzant in the newly renovated library of Brighton High School. “If we work together, we’ll see substantially higher scores and numbers of students graduating on time.”
This school year, which begins today, marks the first year of MCAS graduation requirements for BPS seniors. It also marks a year in which city and statewide budget cuts have left the school district with limited funding. However, schools are 100 percent staffed, according to Charlie Skidmore, principal of Brighton High.
“Even on a tighter budget, we are doing more with less,” said Marchelle Raynor, vice-chair of the BPS School Committee, referring to several recent initiatives designed to provide additional academic support to struggling students and bring families into the learning process.
An individual student success plan will offer a range of help and support options, like individual tutoring before and after school, to students who failed the MCAS the first time around, Payzant said. Progress will be monitored regularly to ensure student success.
Payzant also stressed the importance of literacy work, which he described as “paramount because it cuts across all disciplines.”
Ninth grade Brighton High School history teacher David Huggins said the emphasis on student performance created by the MCAS brings about higher standards and teacher accountability.
“Preparing for the MCAS puts the focus on active learning, making the classroom more exciting so students are more willing to learn,” he said.
Both Payzant and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino attributed district-wide achievements to the MCAS exam and its related programs.
“Every year I see more progress,” Menino said, listing such accomplishments as increased attendance, rising MCAS scores and a larger and more qualified pool of teachers.
Menino cited Brighton High as an example of the improvements a school can make. A few years ago, Menino said, Brighton High was in danger of losing its accreditation. However, it was selected last June as a statewide Compass School to honor its MCAS score improvements.
In 1995, according to the BPS Office of Communications, almost every high school had an accreditation status of either warning or probation. As of June of 2002, all high schools were accredited.
These improvements are important to acknowledge, said Ed Doherty, president for 20 years of the Boston Teachers Union.
Often, Doherty said, “darn good instruction” goes unnoticed as the public focuses on negative scores or other aspects. Doherty cautioned against placing all the responsibility on teachers.
“If we’re going to make education, especially urban education, work, no one can do it alone,” he said. “It’s got to be a collaborative effort.”
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