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| The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) is a system of high-stakes, high-standards tests that has, in my judgment, needlessly deprived thousands of students of high school diplomas. Though these tests have probably done far more harm than good, the teachers at John Glenn Middle School, and especially the Grade 8 and Grade 7 teachers, have felt an obligation to help their students prepare for them. The 1999 MCAS results showed the John Glenn Middle School, along with several others, second among all Massachusetts middle schools in its "average scaled score" on the English Language Arts tests. In 2000, John Glenn and the Carlisle Middle School had the highest English Language Arts scores in the state. The average score in English Language Arts over those two years ranked John Glenn Middle School first in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As a result of a significant staffing change, the JGMS eighth graders who took the 2001 MCAS test had less exposure to the strategies described here. These students did well also, ranking eleventh among middle school classes in the state. None of these students scored in the "Warning" (formerly known as "Failing") category. In 2005, the John Glenn Middle School seventh graders recorded an outstanding MCAS performance. On that test about forty-one percent of JGMS students ranked in the highest, or "Advanced," category, about four times the percentage of the state as a whole. John Glenn Middle School's MCAS preparation strategy has focused not on teaching to the test, but on teaching about the test, a test which is unusual in a number of ways. Here are some of the materials we have used: MCAS Open Response (Short Essay) Items The opinions and representations of fact offered on this page, and throughout this site, are entirely the responsibility of its author, Brendan Desilets. This site in no way expresses the views of the Bedford Public Schools.
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