Remind us why we have MCAS again?
By adamg - Wed, 04/16/2008 - 9:53am.
The Globe reports:
Thousands of Massachusetts public high school graduates arrive at college unprepared for even the most basic math and English classes, forcing them to take remedial courses that discourage many from staying in school, according to a statewide study released yesterday.
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Adam This is why we have the
Adam
This is why we have the MCAS test. Because school administrators are willing to graduate functional illiterate/innumerates. The problem with the MCAS test is that it's too easy. If you want high school graduates to go to college without having to take remedial classes, then you must want graduation testing to be more difficult than it is now. Remove the MCAS test requirement, and things would only get worse.
drawing conclusions from evidence
Don't you need to compare the skill level of students pre-MCAS and post-MCAS to draw that conclusion?
MCAS is not a college skills exam
You want a test of college preparation? Try the SAT.
MCAS is a test of minimal skills to graduate high school. The goal of graduation from high school is not necesarily to go straight to college. Ergo, those who pass are not necessarily prepared for college - they just graduate high school.
The problem may not be the skill set they leave school with. The problem may be that people who aren't ready for college or should consider other career tracks are being funneled into college so their high school administrators and counselors can crow about how many people they send.
Goals confusion
It seems to me you're a little confused about the goals of the MCAS. It isn't intended to, and likely won't, do anything about lack of preparation for college.
The MCAS tests the skills you should have learned in middle school. It's a floor, not a goal. Kids who pass the MCAS who end up in remedial college courses. The functional illiterates who can't pass the MCAS likely don't go to college at all unless they're football players.
I agree with Swirly on this one. Not all kids really need to go to college, and the great increase in remedial classes (about 40% of college students nationwide take at least one remedial course) probably has a lot to do with kids who'd be better off at a trade school thinking they have to go to college.
Colleges are happy to have them. Their money is just as green as any other kid's.
Functional illiterates
IMHO, how can anyone expect kids to read and write when all they do is text-speak all day?
TTYL,
KCMD