Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs)

The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments are given to 3^rd and 5^th graders over four to five days. These assess reading, math, and (additionally for the 5^th grader) writing. These are not Basic Skills tests, instead, these are assessments (as defined under the "Preparatory Standards," the K-8 version of the Profile of Learning).

The state requires school districts to give the assessments, but there is no requirement that your child take them. These are "benchmark" assessments that measure the school, to see whether it is following the new state-imposed educational system. In other words, these are tests of the system, not your child. They are time-consuming (four to five days), and offer no direct benefit for you child, and nothing bad will happen to your child if he/she does not take these assessments. The MCA's are not used for identifying students who need remediation. (They are not "high stakes" tests like the 8^th grade basic reading and math tests, or the 10^th grade basic composition test required for a diploma.)

These are subjective assessments that replace the former rigorous norm-referenced academic testing. The assessments simply show how your school is aligning with the standards, curriculum and philosophies of performance-based and outcome-based education. If children do not take these assessments, the DCFL will be impaired in seeing whether schools are aligning themselves with the new system.

"Students do not pass or fail these tests. These tests are part of the educational accountability system in Minnesota." (From the Minnesota DCFL: The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments - A parent guide to understanding the 3rd and 5th grade tests)

Students do not pass or fail, and the assessments are not used for individual student remediation.

They are scored on a 1-4 Rubric system and the scores are reported aggregately on the local and state level. (The average score across the state has been a "2".) Under Minnesota Statutes 13.34, the assessments are non-public data and cannot be viewed by any parent, teacher, administrator or a school board member. The only information the school or you, the parent, has on your child is the Rubric number score.

Invasion of your family's privacy

In association with the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, the state directs the DCFL Commissioner to collect personal information:

"In developing policies and assessment processes to hold schools and districts accountable for high levels of academic standards, including the profile of learning, the commissioner shall aggregate student data over time to report student performance levels measured at the school district, regional, or statewide level. when collecting and reporting the data, the commissioner shall: (1) acknowledge the impact of significant demographic factors such as residential instability, the number of single parent families, parents' level of education, and parents' income level. .... Any report the commissioner disseminates containing summary data on student performance must integrate student performance and the demographic factors that strongly correlate with that performance." (Minnesota State Statute 120B.31 [System Accountability and Statistical Adjustments] Subd. 4)

In other words, the Commissioner must collect very personal, private family data on the parent(s), including marital status, level of education, income, and "residential instability", which refers to your previous addresses and how often you have moved. How do you feel about the this information being kept for comparison against your child’s performance? Shouldn't this be none of the state's business? Shouldn't our concern be how our children are actually doing, rather than collecting all this personal information about family backgrounds?

These assessments are not about whether your child is getting a genuine broad-based academic education. They are about making sure the school districts are submitting to the new so-called "performance-based system" and its quasi-political aims. They are about the collection of personal and private data on students and families. They are about the centralized control of education by the state.

Your options

A school administrator may (erroneously) claim that your child is required to take the assessments. You can simply tell the school your child will not be taking them, and you do not have to give a reason. You can send your student to school that day and request other assignments, (assignments that will likely be more beneficial for your child than taking the MCAs). Or, if the school will not provide other coursework, consider keeping your child home. (In this case, you should check with your school to make sure your child will receive an "excused" absence.) Your child’s unused assessment booklets, with their name and State I. D. Number will be returned to the State. This gives them the knowledge of who completed the assessments and who did not.

Ask yourself these questions:

Am I willing to have my child take five days of assessments, for which I have no knowledge of the content, will never see, and will not be of direct benefit to my child?
Am I willing to accept that the law requires personal data about my child and family to be collected and returned to the State with the assessments?
Is there any reason I would want the State to assess how my child is doing on a system that I oppose?

Note: In year 2000, many parents informed us their school sent out letters saying the MN Comprehensive Assessments for grades 3 and 5 are required by law. This language gave parents the false impression that their child is required by law to take the MCAs. Nothing could be further from the truth. If your school or its representative tries to force you into allowing your child to take the MCAs under the threat of law, simply tell them they have to give the MCAs but you also know your child does not have to take them.

FROM OUR MAILBOX

Dear MrEdCo,

The letter sent home Friday from my 3rd grader's Principal leads one to believe that the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment will somehow help in remediation for the kids.

I quote, "Tests are one of the several measures used to describe how well students are doing. The scores will be used to provide district-wide information in each subject area, and to help parents and teachers determine the individual needs of their students. This will enable educators to prepare your child for success on the High Standards, which lead to graduation." Later it says.., "Individual achievement test scores with written explanations regarding the meaning of the scores will be forwarded to parents/guardians prior to the end of the school year."

Of course that doesn't specify if the aforementioned "achievement test scores" are in reference to the MCAs or the CAT test the students are supposed to take as well.