To the editor:
At the start of a new school year you'll hear school committees praising administrators for "outstanding" performance. Administrators will extol the great new education initiatives that are showing such promise. This is an annual ritual. If everything is going so well, why do schools have such trouble with the MCAS tests?
Failure of 46 percent on the math MCAS is the de facto community standard in North Andover. According to the Massachusetts Department of Education website, 46 percent of the fourth grade class at the Sargent school failed to pass the math MCAS in 2009. This is not unusual. The average rate of failure over the last 11 years on the fourth grade math MCAS at Sargent is also 46 percent. So after the supposed "reform" of educational instruction and after changing the math curriculum five years ago, nothing changed.
Why do North Andover's voters accept such low standards and keep electing ineffectual school committee members that perpetuate these results?
Listen closely to your School Committee's and school administration's explanations as to how well your schools are improving. The goal set by MCAS is to have 100 percent of children performing at a minimal level (i.e. grade-level proficiency) by 2014. School systems were given 20 years to adapt and change to meet this goal. Look at the MCAS results for your local school. If the combined percentages that Need Improvement and Failing are greater than 20 percent, the chance of achieving the school performance goal by 2014 is now nearly impossible.
On Sept. 9, the Massachusetts Department of Education releases local MCAS scores to the public. Check the scores, the facts, and form your own opinion.
Michael Quinlan
North Andover
