MTA testimony

Testimony of Paul Toner, Vice-President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association
Before the Joint Committee on Education, June 5, 2007
In Support of H. 561 and S. 310

Good afternoon, Chairmen Haddad and Antonioni, and members of the Committee.  My name is Paul Toner and I am the Vice-President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.  The MTA represents over 107,000 thousand public employees across the state from teachers and educational support staff in our public schools pre-K through 12 to our faculty and staff at our community and state colleges and at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Amherst and Lowell.

I am here today to ask for your support for two bills, H. 561 and S. 310.

S. 310 would make sweeping changes to the current assessment system, and would prohibit state standardized tests, such as the MCAS, from being used for any high stakes decisions.  This bill has been filed by the MTA for the past several years and, while we still believe that it is an appropriate alternative to the present system and is still strongly supported by our members, we have come to the conclusion that it is not currently politically viable.

That's why we are here today to support H. 561, a compromise bill that focuses on one of the worst elements of the current assessment system, that is, the high stakes nature of the MCAS requirement. You have heard already that this was not intended by Education Reform, that a multiple assessment system was envisioned by the educational leaders; and, you've heard from testing experts why the current high-stakes requirement tied to state standardized tests is inappropriate and not educationally sound. 

As a former classroom teacher in Cambridge and now as vice-president of the largest teacher's union in the state, representing classroom teachers in nearly every city and town in the state, I want to share with you the concerns that educators have about the MCAS and its uses.  

First, I want to say that teachers readily acknowledge that many of the changes that came about as a result of Education Reform, particularly the state standards and curriculum frameworks, have been important and positive changes that have improved our schools; and, most teachers will also acknowledge that the MCAS tests have been useful as diagnostic tools, to help them improve their teaching. 

However, what I am here to tell you is that, overwhelmingly, teachers now believe that, next to the lack of funding, the MCAS and the emphasis on testing in our schools is the most serious problem facing the public schools in Massachusetts today.  By a two to one margin, MTA members want to eliminate the MCAS graduation requirement. 

More importantly, we want you to know that, overwhelmingly, teachers believe that MCAS negatively affects both student learning and teaching practices.  When surveyed recently on this issue, our teachers were very clear:  The effect of MCAS on student learning has been negative and the effect of MCAS on the way they teach has also been negative.

But I want to be clear:  Teachers are not against testing, and are in favor of using standardized tests, even MCAS tests, for diagnostic purposes, such as measuring a child's individual progress from year to year.

What teachers are against is using the MCAS to determine graduation and the overuse of such MCAS testing. 

Teachers know that the high-stakes use of the MCAS has increased the drop-out rate and thus lowered the high school graduation rate.

Teachers know that school offerings and their teaching have changed because of the MCAS.  They are less creative, less able to cover topics in depth; instead, teachers must constantly prepare students for taking tests and spend precious class time giving more and more tests.Teachers in every grade, and in all types of school districts, whether urban, suburban or rural, whether in low, moderate income or affluent districts, say that their teaching has changed for the worse because of MCAS and that student learning has suffered.

We say, it is time for the Legislature to take a look at the problem, to see whether the testing has gone too far, whether our use of MCAS is inappropriate and, in fact, may have become counter-productive, by discouraging students instead of helping them to succeed.

H. 561 would require a commission made up of education, citizen and business leaders, to take a look at our graduation requirements and to come up with a multiple assessment system, a way for students who have not been able to pass MCAS to be able to meet the standards in other, equally rigorous ways. 

H. 561 would NOT repeal MCAS; instead, it would require us to look at what we have done with our testing system since Education Reform and to try to make changes that will fulfill the original intention of Education Reform; that is, to ensure that all students have the opportunity to meet the new state standards.

Thank you for your support of H. 561.