State eases appeal rule for science MCAS test

MALDEN - Massachusetts high school students could have an easier time earning a diploma without passing the new science MCAS test than those who fail the math and English sections under emergency rules adopted yesterday by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Students who take the science exam just once and fail can file an appeal based largely on their grades in a comparable science course. By contrast, students have to take the English and math exams three times before filing an appeal of a failing score. The appeal process for those two subjects, which became a graduation requirement in 2003, remains the same. The science MCAS will become a graduation requirement for this year's 11th-graders.

MCAS critics perceive the change - a week before the release of statewide scores - as a signal that the state board may be softening its support of the often-criticized paper-and-pencil test. Governor Deval Patrick has been pushing for ways other than just standardized tests to measure student performance, especially in hands-on subjects such as science, where classroom teachers often gauge student knowledge through lab experiments or projects.

"I think the board's policy is an effort to introduce for the very, very first time an element of reasonableness in determining what weight a single test should have in measuring a student's ability," said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and a frequent MCAS critic.

The state education board three years ago approved making the science exam a graduation requirement to ensure that students are ready for jobs in the fields of science and engineering - which are expected to drive the state's economy - putting the state in a better position to compete against India and China.

But the results of the first administration of the science exams, taken in the spring of 2007, disappointed many educators and policy makers. More than a quarter of students failed, while many urban districts posted failure rates of 50 percent or higher.

Students have the choice of taking the exam in biology, chemistry, physics, or engineering/technology. To pass, students must score at least in the "needs improvement" category, the second lowest of four scoring categories on the exam.

While 11th-graders took the exam in the spring of 2007 as freshmen, the vast majority tackled the test for the first time in spring of 2008.

State education officials denied they are backing away from high standards.

"There's no guarantee high school grades will be strong enough to receive an appeal," Jeffrey Nellhaus, a deputy education commissioner who presented the proposal approved by the board, said in an interview after the meeting.

He pointed out that since the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test became a graduation requirement in English and math, 300,000 students have graduated and the state granted only 2,800 appeals. The department in recent years has rejected 20 percent to 30 percent of the appeals received, while the number of appeals submitted has decreased because more students now pass the test.

In examining a student's high school grades to determine whether an appeal should be granted, the department compares that student's grades with the grades of other students at their school who barely passed the exam.

The new regulations attempt to resolve a quandary among school administrators over the best way to handle students who fail a science exam but pass the subject in high school. By the time they learn they failed the version of the exam they took, they probably will have moved on to another scientific subject for the fall semester.

School administrators have been unsure whether they should offer students targeted tutoring in the failed areas of the test and have students retake the exam, or have students take a different science exam the following spring, based on the subject they currently are studying. Students will have to use one of those options if the state rejects their appeal under the system approved yesterday.

The science quandary is considered unique, education officials said. Because math and English tests are based on cumulative knowledge - building upon skills one year to another - a student's ability to pass the exams should increase each year.

The board adopted the emergency rules, overriding the public comment period, because this year's juniors need to decide soon on an appeal, which is formally submitted by the school district.

The change did little to appease one board member.

"I still have deep-seated concerns about science being a paperand-pencil test," said Ruth Kaplan of Brookline, the board's parent representative who nevertheless approved the motion.