Voice against MCAS gains statewide stage
After more than a decade of activism for school causes, Brookline's Ruth Kaplan is about to step onto a bigger stage.
Kaplan has been a staunch advocate for special education, but it's her longstanding criticism of the MCAS graduation requirement that has drawn most of the public attention since she became Governor Deval Patrick's first appointment to the state Board of Education.
After resigning from the Brookline School Committee, Kaplan on June 26 will be joining a nine-member board lined up solidly in favor of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.
Kaplan said her appointment as the Parent Teacher Association representative reflects the governor's desire to increase the diversity of opinion on the board, which she characterized as being hard of hearing regarding the views of parents and educators. "I look forward to bringing the much-needed voice of the parents and their children to the table," she said.
In the short term, however, her appointment on June 7 has rekindled debate over the state's system of standardized tests, and raised speculation about the governor's overall approach to education.
"We're very pleased," said Monty Neill, director of FairTest, which has long questioned the widespread use of standardized testing in the state and nation. "We look forward to future appointments of the governor and a board that's educationally helpful instead of educationally harmful."
On the other hand, Kaplan's choice was called "an ominous development" by Jamie Gass, director of education research and programs for the Pioneer Institute, a think tank with a history of supporting the MCAS tests and charter schools.
For now, Patrick isn't commenting on the political implications of Kaplan's appointment. But a statement released by Kyle Sullivan, the governor's press secretary, did address the issue of balance:
"The governor believes that balanced views on the board are important to developing the strongest and most valuable education policies," he said. "The board deals with a broad range of issues that are very important and MCAS, while high profile, is just one of many issues that are of concern to the governor."
Sullivan noted that while Patrick and Kaplan "share a commitment to improving public education for every student in the Commonwealth," they "may not agree on every single aspect of education."
On the issue of MCAS, however, the two appear to hold similar views.
Sullivan said Patrick still supports "MCAS as a high school graduation requirement. However, he doesn't believe it should be the sole assessment of student academic progress."
Kaplan said, "I would like to see MCAS become one part of a more comprehensive measurement. Standardized testing like MCAS should be used diagnostically, but not as the basis upon which to deny diplomas. This 'high stakes' use is unfair."
Kaplan said she considers the MCAS graduation requirement unfair because some districts do not yet provide students with the curriculum needed to succeed on the exams. "Testing is supposed to measure how well a school district is doing," she said. "If they aren't doing it well, why are we punishing the kids by denying them a diploma?"
Alison Fraser, director of the Great Schools Campaign at Mass Insight Education, said MCAS tests simply measure whether children are getting a minimum state-sanctioned education, and noted that when she taught English at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, all of her students managed to pass.
According to Fraser, the MCAS requirement was a compromise.
"The ideal would have been to require high school students to complete a senior project based on state standards," said Fraser, but added that such a system isn't practical because the state lacks the funding or the number of teachers qualified to evaluate such projects.
MCAS, she said, which uses a lot of open response questions as well as some multiple choice, was a reality-based alternative for those who wanted portfolios or senior projects for student assessment.
"Vermont tried it, and it was a dismal failure," she said. "They've now gone to a standards-based test."
Kaplan, 58, will replace Roberta Schaeffer, who is her " polar opposite" on MCAS and standards-based education, according to Gass. She joins fellow Brookline resident Sandra Stotsky, who has aligned herself with the Pioneer Institute's positions on MCAS and traditional curriculum requirements. The other members of the board have lined up behind MCAS fairly consistently.
Kaplan has been vice president of the Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education, a grassroots organization opposed to MCAS, since 2001. In 2006, she co founded the Alliance for the Education of the Whole Child, a coalition of roughly 40 "education, civil rights, and social justice" groups that oppose using MCAS as a graduation requirement, and support multiple assessments, a well-rounded education, and more public school funding.
In Brookline, Kaplan is known for more than MCAS. The daughter of Sumner Kaplan, a former state representative and Brookline selectman, she co chaired the Brookline Special Education Parent Advisory Council in 1994-97. She was elected to the School Committee in 2003, and her vacant seat will probably be filled on an interim basis at a fall caucus, said chairwoman Judy Meyers. The remainder of Kaplan's term, which ends in 2009, will be filled in the town election in May.
"She advocates nonstop for all struggling learners, whether they be special education students, English language learners, or students of limited means," said Meyers, who nominated Kaplan for the board.
Kaplan, who attended Devotion and Brookline high schools, returned to Brookline 15 years ago to raise her family. Both of her daughters attended Brookline High this year, and she says that knowing how an excellent school system like Brookline's runs will help determine how others can make the grade.
"Brookline is a diverse community with great schools. Nonetheless, we face many of the challenges confronted by other school districts in the state," she said. However, the Brookline School Committee also has a history of resisting state education reform measures, ranging from school choice in the 1990s to the present MCAS graduation requirement.
Kaplan said she has spent a lot of time in the Boston schools, where her mother, Eleanor, taught grades 1 and 2 for 20 years, and that she regularly hears from parents all over the state who are concerned about their special-needs children.
"To my knowledge, the Board of Education has not been particularly focused on issues concerning students with disabilities," she said. "I want to be a voice for these children and ensure that they aren't marginalized. Teaching special-needs students well usually means that a school system is employing excellent teaching approaches in general."
Kaplan said she welcomes input from all parents. "I view my role as a parent representative -- someone who hears from parents and will share their concerns with the board."
Meyers, who has worked closely with Kaplan on the School Committee, said parents and teachers will appreciate her openness.
"I've known many passionate people," she said, "but none more passionate than Ruth."
