Governor Mark Dayton and his Education
Commissioner Brenda Cassellius created a climate during 2011-2018 whereby the
opt-out phenomenon became a problem in Minnesota, especially at the high school
level. The Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessments (MCAs) in math, reading, and science are the key assessments
emanating from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) for measuring student
academic progress. The math and reading MCAs
are administered in April each year to students in grades 3-8. The science MCA is administered one year in high
school and in grades 5 and 7. The high
school reading and math MCAs are administered in grades 10 and 11 respectively.
Until the Dayton-Cassellius years, demonstrated
proficiency on a grade 9 writing assessment and the grade 10 reading MCA were
necessary for graduation. During those
years, Cassellius did the governor’s bidding as he bowed to pressure from the state
teachers union, Education Minnesota (a key backer of DFLers), moving to nix the
grade 9 writing test altogether and, while retaining the grade 10 reading assessment,
ending the necessity of student demonstration of proficiency on that assessment
in order to graduate.
The signal went out to the school
districts that pressure to ensure student reading and math proficiency was
easing. In the Minneapolis Public
Schools, K-8 teachers in general have not in recent years prepared students for
taking the MCAs, either in terms of assuring skill mastery or preparation for
the format. This was true at the high
school level, too, and in some high schools students opted out in very
significant numbers, often at the behest of their parents. This irresponsibly skews the results in the
absence of assurance of participation by students at a variety of skill levels.
To their credit, MPS principals Michael
Bradley (Roosevelt) and, especially, Eryn Warne (Edison) and Emily Favor
(Washburn) seem to have resisted the opt-out phenomenon; the record of North High School Principal
Shawn Harris-Berry is less definite.
The particularly culpable principals
for encouraging or tolerating the opt-out phenomenon have been Ray Aponte (South),
Yusuf Abdullah (Henry), and Michael Favor (Southwest).
Faculty at Henry High School most
irresponsibly tell their students that they do not have to take the grade 10
reading and grade 11 math MCAs. This is
in grave contravention of the spirit in which these assessments were developed
as state-wide indicators of student academic proficiency.
Inspect the following figures carefully
as to the precipitous decline in number of students (given in parentheses) taking the MCAs at Henry, South,
and Southwest High Schools by academic years 2017 and 2018 of the 2014-2018
period:
Henry High School Principal
>>>>> Yusuf Abdullah
Math 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
46% 52% 59% 14% -----
(214) (181) (17) (7)
(-----)
Reading 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
50% 33% 32% 31% 75%
(241) (218) (28) (13) (8)
Science 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
20% 31% 29% 29% 57%
(174) (42) (14) (7) (7)
South High School Edison
High School Principal >>>>> Ray
Aponte
Math 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
20% 23% ----- 29% 34%
(143) (48)
(-----)
(28) (65)
Reading 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
45% 29% 14% 36% 18%
(252) (73) (86) (47)
(132)
Science 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
17% 35% ----- 28% 4%
(88)
(17) (-----) (61) (96)
Southwest High School Principal
>>>>> Michael
Favor
Math 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
34% 47% 42% ----- -----
(303) (60)
(12) (-----) (-----)
Reading 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
64% 46% 65% 53% 65%
(386) (134) (60) (58)
(141)
Science 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
39% 47% 83% 58% 61%
(321) (75)
(6) (38)
(111)
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