Vince To Beacon Hill: Ehh. Sorry, MCAS Ain't Workin'

So this article pops up in the Boston Herald, and it shows how bloody frustrated most of the kids are who failed MCAS. More than half aren't checking in for a retake.

And no wonder. The test alleged to weed out stupid teachers instead might be taking a rather harsh effect on the people it intends to help. I wonder if the 8% who fail have learning disabilities?

A written test isn't crafted for a non-academic learner, and they do exist, by the way. It's not a copout.

I can't explain what happened and why we need this joke of a test anyway, but I think it happened somewhere between the 1950's and the 1990's when we started thinking a four-year degree was ALL that mattered when selecting teachers. Now we have a handful of good teachers and a trashbag full of really awful people who know how to pass a college final.

Now, it is possible to hire compassionate, loving teachers. My friend Rebecca is one. But for the most part, school officials are more impressed with credentials, not compassion. "Wow, a master's from Yale. Impressive." Is more than likely uttered more than, "This woman worked for four years with this kid to make sure he passed Math."

So MCAS doesn't work. And the more enligtened bunch of us have known there were holes in this test bigger than some of the craters on the moon. Beacon Hill doesn't seem to get that some things can't be evaluated in a written test. To this day I can't pass a written exam on anything. And if I can't, there must be others effected the same way.