Eloquence wins students compromise on test mixup
Furious that a faculty member's error forced them to take an MCAS exam over again, Randolph High School sophomores wrote a letter beseeching the state education commissioner to accept the higher of the two grades. Their plea worked.
Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll called Randolph High officials yesterday to tell them he was swayed by the eloquent letter the 24 students sent him, a spokeswoman said.
''It's a very well-written letter," said Heidi Perlman, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. ''It's very convincing and it makes a fair point. The commissioner is a reasonable man."
On May 11, students were told of the mistake and that they would have to retake the test the next day because state officials said they could not confirm whether someone had tampered with the booklets.
But yesterday, Perlman said state officials would have no reason to suspect tampering unless there are dramatic differences between the students' two grades on the MCAS composition exam.
The booklets were accidentally left behind in a basement classroom used only for tests like the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams and the SAT. The students took the test on April 6, but the booklets sat in the locked classroom for almost a month; they were discovered when the room was reopened to administer an SAT exam.
On May 12, the day they retook the test, one of the sophomores wrote the letter to Driscoll, and all 24 affected students signed it. They noted in the letter that all of them had been prepared for the original test.
''As you know, the MCAS is a high stakes exam that puts many students under tremendous pressure to perform well. For many students, the days prior to the exam are filled with a variety of emotions and fears," the students wrote. ''We do not think it is fair for us to be subjected to this pressure on less than one day's notice."
Emily Koo-Staley, 16, one of the students who had to retake the test, said she is more relaxed since the principal told her the first test would no longer be disregarded.
After the missing booklets were discovered, school officials launched an investigation. Randolph High principal Robert A. Johnson said yesterday no one will be punished for the mistake.
''Essentially it was just an error, just an oversight," he said.
Johnson, who had not seen the students' letter as of yesterday, said he was not surprised the students were articulate enough to sway a state official.
''Just as they're capable of writing an essay, they're also capable of writing a letter," he said.
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. 