As a first year teacher in the city of Boston, and one who personally experienced the failure of Judge, Arthur Garrity’s forced busing proclamation, I was fortunate to be able to spend the remaining 33 years teaching in the towns of; Duxbury, Malden, Dedham, Waltham, Wellesley,and Westborough.
MCAS was introduced as a result of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act in1993. Before that time, educators were allowed to actually teach, and followed creative and educationally sound curriculum guidelines that were developed from within their specific subject departments, in conjunction with town and state requirements. Two major bills that essentially deflated any joy in learning for students, were; President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act” and President Obama’s $4.35 Billion Dollar “Race to The Top -Common Core Act”. The result is a generation of students who were basically trained how to take a mandated exam. Teachers have a strict compressed timeline to present information that students regurgitate onto a computerized exam.
The Dover NH company “Measured Progress” with Atlanta based “AdvanceED” won the $151 million dollar contract to design this tool. For all the social scientists and corporate executives out there, constantly whining about how; “We need fresh young minds”, who can be creative and think “outside the box” there is literally NO Art, Music or Creative subject matter at all on the MCAS exam.
Massachusetts certified teachers are forced to deal with a mountain of bureaucratic paperwork to defend their educational practices. These state mandated initiatives have forced good teachers to quit the profession and younger people considering education as a career, to look for less self-deprecating jobs, which is the biggest reason why we have a teacher shortage in the United States.
Personally, the current state of education in this country is like the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” If our education leaders in this state were truly serious about adopting a true measurement of assessment, it would be a 6 year portfolio of a child’s learning growth (grades 7-12)that highlights the milestones each student has personally made, showing an accurate description for their college or career paths.
Paul Tomashefsky
Shrewsbury
