Incentives for learning

Students get jobs for joining MCAS study program

By Emily Shartin, Globe Staff, 8/28/2003

Inside the kitchen at the Greater Waltham Association for Retarded Citizens, 15-year-old Kevin Genece helped a group of adults make chocolate muffins, one of many responsibilities he has undertaken at his first real summer job.

The association offers a variety of services and activities for people with developmental disabilities, known as "consumers," and sometimes Genece accompanies them to the exercise room or plays games with them. "Sometimes I help out with their lunches," he said last week. And sometimes he is there just to talk with people he describes as new friends.

Genece is one of about 14 Waltham students who were offered jobs for agreeing to participate in a summer preparation course for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam. Job opportunities are one of a few incentives, along with school credit and gift certificates, that the city began offering three years ago in an attempt to encourage students to commit to the summer school program. But officials also say the benefits of the work experience extend beyond the exam, teaching students about real-life responsibilities and opportunities that await them once they finish school.

"When students can connect to the real world, that's when it makes the most significant impact on their own learning," said Anne Marie Carr-Reardon, who helps coordinate the MCAS program for the Waltham school system.

The MCAS tests knowledge of English, math, and science. Beginning in third grade, students take an installment of the exam every year, except for ninth grade. They must pass the high school installment of the exam (first offered during a student's sophomore year) to graduate.

Genece will begin his sophomore year at Waltham High School on Wednesday. Although he was interested in the summer program largely because of the job (he is saving his money for school supplies and clothes), his mind is also on the high-stakes nature of the MCAS test.

"I'm somewhat nervous about it because if we don't pass we don't graduate," he said.

About 45 high school students participated in the four-week MCAS course, known as Summer Daze, and they must keep up their attendance to collect the incentive, be it a job, a gift certificate, or school credit, Carr-Reardon said. The voluntary program is open only to students who have demonstrated a need for improvement in their MCAS scores based on earlier rounds of testing, she said. The academic portion of the program, where students worked on their writing and math skills, wrapped up in the first part of this month, and the work component is to end this week. For a short time, the segments overlapped and students attended school in the morning and worked in the afternoon.

Although Summer Daze has only been offered for a short time, Carr-Reardon said school officials have tracked improvement based on tests offered before and after the program. Last summer, 84 percent of the high school students who took the English course showed improvement, while 78 percent of the students who took the math course showed improvement. While Carr-Reardon believes the summer program has played a role in improving MCAS scores, she also noted the difficulty in isolating any one factor that results in higher student achievement.

"In all fairness, teachers work all year with students," she said.

The MCAS program is offered alongside the city's popular Summer Works program, which has found jobs for high school and college students for about 15 years. Those jobs can be with city departments, private businesses, or nonprofit organizations, said Michelle Pizzi, the program's coordinator. This year, the city paid the wages of students who worked in nonprofits -- about $6.75 an hour -- said Brenda Capello, Waltham's director of personnel. This year, about 233 students applied for the program and the city found jobs for about 150, including 14 who participated in the Summer Daze program, Pizzi said.

Richard Murnane, an economist and professor of education at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, said the notion of offering students jobs in exchange for improved academic performance is not new. But he said he believes the novelty and difficulty of the MCAS exam has prompted many school systems to seek different ways to capture students' attention and get them over the bar. "Incentives matter," he said.

Murnane was unsure whether work experience would help students pass the MCAS, noting that academic preparation is still crucial. But he called the work incentive a "modest step in the right direction."

"The notion that you've got to be there every day on time is a useful skill."

State grant money for MCAS preparation programs, which Waltham receives, has been cut from $50 million to about $10 million for the coming year, according to the state Department of Education. Those cuts are expected to affect programs for younger students because officials want to preserve programs at the high school level. Similar to Waltham's initiative, the Department of Education oversees a program for juniors and seniors who have failed the MCAS exam. The state program combines preparation for a retest with internships in high-profile working environments, including Fleet Bank, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Keith Westrich, who helps coordinate the program, describes the internship as an "age-appropriate incentive" for students.

Martha La Pierre, whose 15-year-old son, Brian, also worked at the Greater Waltham Association for Retarded Citizens this summer, said the prospect of getting a job motivated her son toregister for the city's MCAS program.

"He said, `Oh good, I could use the money,' " said La Pierre. If not for the Summer Daze program, which La Pierre said Brian has enjoyed, she questioned whether he would have spent his time off from school productively.

John Tran, a 15-year-old who also worked at the association, said he is less worried about the MCAS exam after participating in this summer's program. He is saving his money to buy a car, but he said the key thing he will take away from his summer experience are the new friends who made him feel at home on his first job.

"The more friends you have," he said, "the more comfortable you'll be."

Emily Shartin can be reached at eshartin@globe.com.