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Schools fear MCAS dropouts
350 local
seniors ineligible to graduate
By DINA GERDEMAN
The Patriot Ledger
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high school seniors have already dropped out of school because
they feared they would never pass the MCAS exam. Now school officials
are trying to hold on to the 6,058 students who just found out
they failed the test again and cannot graduate in June.
 One
out of 10 high school seniors statewide are not eligible for diplomas
because they have failed in their fourth and final chance to pass
the test before graduation ceremonies in June, according to results
of the December retest, released by the state yesterday.
Locally, the schools with the highest failure rates are Southeastern
Technical High School in Easton, where 17 percent of seniors have
not passed; Randolph High, where 16 percent have failed; Old Colony
Regional Vocational in Rochester, where 15 percent have failed;
and Holbrook High, where 12 percent are on the failure list, according
to state figures based on October enrollment data.
Local school officials who are consoling more than 350 angry,
discouraged teenagers who failed are worried the students will
bail out of school.
“There was an anxiety level among those kids who failed
that we haven’t seen before,” said Bob O’Day,
principal of Plymouth South High School, where 11 seniors are
failing.
At Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, one student has already
transferred to a night school where she is not required to pass
the MCAS to get a diploma.
“We’re just trying to save as many kids as possible,”
said Pam Gould, assistant principal at Whitman-Hanson. “Their
failure is our failure. We’re feeling the same hurt they’re
feeling. But we’re not giving up on them, and we don’t
want them to give up.”
Bernie DuPuis, head counselor at Marshfield High School, said
about a dozen seniors have dropped out since last fall. They were
all struggling with the MCAS test, and although many were also
having trouble in their classes, there were a couple who were
doing well in school, but were discouraged enough by the test
to quit.
“A couple students were making satisfactory progress in
school, but said, ‘What good does it do to work hard if
I’m not going to get a diploma anyway because of the MCAS,
so forget it. I’ll drop out,’’’ DuPuis
said. “These kids have felt discouraged since sophomore
year when they failed the test the first time.”
Yet many seniors seem determined to pass the exam.
“The kids are taking the news very somberly, but no one
has looked at me and said, ‘I quit,’” said Bob
Johnson, assistant principal of Randolph High. “We want
to discourage youngsters from making a rash decision because they’re
disappointed.”
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The Class of 2003 is the first required to pass both the English
and math portions of the MCAS test to graduate. Seniors took the
test for the first time in their sophomore year and have had four
opportunities to pass.
In many cases, school officials say the students who are being
denied diplomas because of the MCAS are otherwise qualified to
graduate. Of the 20 seniors at Randolph High who have failed the
test, “A couple are shaky, but even those students are probably
in line to graduate,” Johnson said.
“We have strict graduation requirements, and these kids
have met those requirements,” DuPuis said of the 10 seniors
at Marshfield High who have not passed. “Some kids just
have a real difficult time with this type of test.”
With 4,300 seniors passing the December retest, 90 percent of
the 60,000 seniors statewide are eligible to graduate. Ninety-three
percent have passed the English portion of the MCAS test, and
91 percent have passed the math section. Although 94 percent of
regular education students have passed the test, only 67 percent
of students with limited English skills and 69 percent of students
with disabilities have passed.
A racial gap persists. Thirty percent of Hispanic and 25 percent
of black seniors overall still have not passed, compared with
6 percent of whites.
A city-suburb gap also exists. Ninety-four percent of seniors
in suburban schools have passed, compared with 79 percent in city
schools.
Lawrence scored lowest in the state, with just 56 percent of
seniors passing. Other low passing rates are Chelsea, 64 percent;
Springfield, 69 percent; and Boston, 70 percent.
In contrast, many South Shore schools have very few seniors who
have failed: only two students at Hanover High and three at both
Braintree and Sharon high schools have yet to clear the MCAS hurdle.
Hull High has all 95 of its seniors passing the test.
In releasing the numbers, state officials cheered the overall
90 percent passage rate.
“This exceeds anybody’s expectations,” Education
Commissioner David Driscoll said. “Those 6,000 kids, many
of them could do it if they would apply themselves and come to
school. I definitely think it’s a victory. I don’t
think there’s any other way to say it. No one back in ’98
would have predicted 90 percent.”
The state also released numbers for the Class of 2004. A total
of 84 percent of juniors have passed both exams, with 90 percent
passing English and 86 percent passing math.
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Students with good attendance records and solid grades in the
MCAS subject they are failing may be eligible for state waivers.
School officials are now preparing the paperwork for student appeals.
“It was very difficult to look at a student who comes to
school 99 percent of the time, does all the work and is meeting
the competency requirements of high school and say, ‘Right
now you’re going to receive a certificate of attendance,’”
said Bob Keuther, principal of Quincy High School, where six seniors
have not passed. “They’ve earned the right for us
to fight as hard as we can to get them a diploma.”
For others who are not eligible for waivers, it’s back
to the books. Schools are continuing tutoring programs, including
one-on-one tutoring for students at some schools. Another retest
will be offered in May, but results will not be ready in time
for graduation.
A last hope for seniors may come in a lawsuit challenging the
MCAS requirement. Plaintiffs’ lawyers two weeks ago asked
a Suffolk Superior Court judge for a preliminary injunction to
prohibit enforcement of the requirement. A hearing has not yet
been scheduled.
School officials say it is unclear how students who do not graduate
because of MCAS will be affected in the long run.
“No one knows the ramifications,’’ said Paul
Alperin, principal of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. “How
will it affect getting a job? Getting into college? We’ve
only hit the paper wall. We haven’t hit the brick wall just
yet.”
Dina Gerdeman may be reached by clicking here.
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