Boston’s new Superintendent of Schools addresses test scores and the achievement gap
by Samina Uddin, Features Editor on December 6, 2007 in News
“We see potential where others have long given up hope” wrote Dr. Carol R. Johnson, the new Superintendent of Boston Public Schools (BPS), in her welcome letter to the public this past August. In tackling the critical issues of standardized test scores and the racial achievement gap, Johnson’s outlook is the foundation of her agenda.
After four successful years as the Superintendent of Memphis City Schools, Tennessee’s largest school district, Johnson approached her leadership of BPS - and its 57,000 students - with enthusiasm.
“I felt that in Boston, there was a tremendous foundation on which to accelerate progress,” said Johnson. “The number of universities in the area, the support of the School Committee and business community, and the history of involvement by civic groups makes Boston a very attractive place.”
Somewhat precariously, Johnson’s second month in office coincided with the release of the latest state test results, known as Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). In October, the State Department of Education published the results of the Spring 2007 MCAS tests in English and Mathematics.
The scores gave serious cause for concern.
In Math, 27 percent of Grade 10 students-who must pass MCAS in order to graduate-ranked in the “need improvement” category, while 18 percent scored in the “warning/failing” category. They fared just as poorly on the English test: 37 percent were reported needing improvement, while 13 percent were in danger of failing.
Compared to 2006, however, the percentage of students in the failing range in both Math and English decreased.
“What should be measured is progress against standards,” said Johnson. “On this front, I’m very pleased with Boston’s progress toward meeting high standards.”
Johnson is quick to emphasize, however, that MCAS should never be used as the sole measure of how a school or student is doing.
“Teachers can tell areas of strengths and weaknesses through MCAS, but it certainly is not the only measure that a teacher or parents should use,” she cautioned. “I believe a quality education includes arts, music, physical education and health, world languages and ways to help students develop strong character to be civically engaged. None of these is on MCAS.”
Nor, by itself, is the test intended to promote student achievement. “It’s what you do with the data that matters,” stressed Johnson. Paul Reville, Chairman of the Mass. State Board of Education and a lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, agreed, casting MCAS as a “measurement tool.”
“It is often mistaken for a reform in and of itself when it is not a reform. It is a yardstick,” said
Reville.
In addition to measuring the proficiency level of students by grade level, MCAS also provides a snapshot of the achievement gap between Boston’s African-American and Latino students, and their Caucasian and Asian counterparts.
In 2007, 5 percent of African-American and Latino students scored in the “advanced/above proficient” range on the English test, whereas 28 percent of Caucasian students and 26 percent of Asian students scored in the same range. In Math, 21 percent of African-American students and 24 percent of Latino students performed at the advanced level, compared to 55 percent of Caucasian students and 77 percent of Asian students.
The achievement gap is a complex issue for Johnson, who sees no single cause.
“It has roots in the early experiences children have before they start school, pre-natal health care, family stability and other socioeconomic factors,” she said. “It also has educational roots - expectations for students, the quality of teachers and administrators and where they are placed, educators’ cultural competency and numerous other factors.”
And though solutions to the problem are neither easy nor singular, Johnson sees supporting great principal leadership, involving families in the education of their children and fostering quality teaching as crucial components.
As with any effort to improve urban education in America, Johnson knows that results won’t happen overnight. But with her strong supply of optimism, candor and confidence, she could be Boston’s best bet for enhancing the city’s public schools.
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