EdAction
Maple River Education Coalition PAC
105 Peavey Rd, St 116 
Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931
http://www.EdAction.org
E-mail

April 28, 2003
Print Version

Saying NO to the MCA's

The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) are still taking place, and many of you are still wondering, does my student by law have to take the MCAs?

No, no, a thousand times no.  The district is required to administer the test.  Parents have a legal right to refuse. Students have a legal right to refuse.  The MCAs are not a graduation requirement.

The Profile of Learning is still with us. Thanks to the DFL in the Minnesota Senate, a genuine repeal has not made it to the Governor's desk for his signature.  Minnesota is still testing for the federal curriculum, the Profile of Learning.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) tightened the noose on states, however, in its test requirements of the federal curriculum (Profile of Learning). With NCLB in place, schools that do not have 95% of their enrolled students taking the MCAs are automatically identified as failing to make adequate progress.

Why, then, are parents saying no to the MCAs?

Parents are refusing to allow their students to be tested for three reasons:

1. To shield them from non-academic values and attitudes questions of the national standards (diversity evaluation) and the kind of personal information gathering that asks, for example, how much television does your family watch;

2. To protest the Profile of Learning federal mandate that has transformed education from gaining knowledge to use freely as we choose, to indoctrinating values and attitudes; and 

3. To protest the federal government making requirements of schools that the U.S. Constitution forbids them to make under the 10th amendment.

Threats:
Lots of reports are coming in that the schools are threatening all sorts of consequences if students or parents refuse the test.

Some districts say that the MCAs will appear on students' transcripts, implying that without them, the student will not graduate.  State law, however, makes it clear that the MCAs are not a requirement for graduation. Being on the transcript is without meaning.

Some districts have threatened that students will not be allowed to resume classes if they don't take the MCAs.  Districts have no authority to refuse to teach students who have not taken the MCAs.

Here is the official description of the MCAs, right from the Department of Children, Families and Learning website.  The site makes it abundantly clear that the purpose of the MCAs is to give direction to the Profile of Learning, measure its success in inculcating the values and attitudes of the federal curriculum:

"What is the purpose of the MCAs?
These statewide tests chart the progress of schools and districts over time...These tests indicate the effectiveness of existing programs. ["Existing programs" means the Profile of Learning.]

"What are the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments? 
The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) are reading and math tests designed to assist districts evaluate how their curriculum prepares students for the state's content standards in the Profile of Learning." (Emphasis added.)

"How are these tests different from the Basic Skills Tests? 
The Basic Skills Tests are pass/fail tests. Public school students must pass the reading, mathematics, and written composition tests prior to earning a high school diploma. The MCAs are not pass/fail tests. Students are given a numbered score and these scores are used to measure the progress of school and districts." [in the Profile of Learning.]

"Who must take the MCA tests?
State law requires that all third and fifth-grade public school students be tested."

Notice that it does not say that all third and fifth-grade public school students must take the test..

A look through the School/District manual for administering the MCA's, will make it more clear:

"The MCAs are accountability tests and every effort should be made to ensure all students are tested." (p. 2)

"An MCA answer document should be returned for each student enrolled in the district on test day.

These include:
-- students who completed the MCAs.
-- students whose answer documents were coded as "REF"2 indicating parent's request that their child not be administered the MCAs. The Test Administration report should be completed with the name(s) of the parent(s) refusing to have their child tested." (p. 3)

"There is no state requirement to put MCA scores on a student's record." (p. 38)

And on Pp. 23-24, those administering the test are instructed about what to do with refusals: "REF ­ Refused to Have Student Tested Fill in the REF bubble for "refused to test" if a parent/guardian made this request. Schools will need to distinguish parental refusal from student refusal. If a student refuses to complete the MCA, then code the answer document as "INV" ­ see "INV" below. Do NOT complete the "REF" bubble ­ that is reserved for parent's refusal ONLY. This is an important distinction for calculating whether or not the ESEA requirement for 95% assessed has been met.

"Schools may find it advantageous to ascertain if it is a parental refusal versus a student refusal by determining any parental refusal prior to test date. All REF coded answer documents should be detailed on the Test Administration Report with the name of the parent/guardian making the request. Return all REF answer documents with all other answer documents." (p. 23-24)

"An MCA answer document should be returned for each student enrolled in the district on test day.  These include:
-students who completed the MCAs.
-students whose answer documents were coded as "REF"2 indicating parent's request that their child not be administered the MCAs. The Test Administration report should be completed with the name(s) of the parent(s) refusing to have their child tested."

The state wants to collect names of parents who refuse to allow their children to take the MCAs.  For what purpose?   What exactly would the state do with information like that?

The secretiveness of the tests gets downright creepy.  Two years ago, we applauded the passage of a law allowing parents to review the actual test and answers of their children.  After all, these tests enforce the curriculum.  They reflect what our children are being taught.

The process, however, requires a person to sign away their rights to discuss or publicly analyze its content.  What kind of openness is this?

Test Review Policy
"After student scores are available, parents will have the opportunity to review the actual test (and/or a computer generated copy of the student's responses) to verify the correct and incorrect answers. This review can be done at CFL's main offices in Roseville, or arrangements can be made to meet with a CFL representative. To protect the future use of some test items, parents will need to: (1) sign a non-disclosure agreement; and (2) not be allowed to take any notes or other recordings of the test items. All reviews will be in the presence of a CFL staff member who will be there to ensure that no notes are taken and to answer general questions about the test.  Response time will be about 4-6 weeks to locate and copy a student's test answers by the scoring vendor."

See the nondisclosure agreement.

The MCAs, along with the federal test, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) has taken on the protectiveness of national security documents.  We think it's time to open the process up and let in the light of day.

For futher reading on testing, see
http://www.edwatch.org/NAEPbanned.html
http://www.edwatch.org/NAEP.html

EdAction - 105 Peavey Rd, Ste 116, Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931 - edaction@lakes.com - (c) EdAction - All rights reserved.