MCA results provide little useful information for parents, educators

For more information, contact:
Chris Williams
651-292-4816 (work)
651-247-5539 (cell)

Megan Boldt
651-292-4818 (work)
651-245-9163 (cell)

ST. PAUL, Minn. July 28, 2016 – Education Minnesota President Denise Specht released the following statement in response to the release of the scores from the 2016 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments.

"It is always frustrating to see how little useful data we get for all the time and taxpayer money spent on standardized tests," Specht said. "The MCA results arrive too late to help any individual teacher or student, and we still don't know what the aggregated data actually measure. Are we quantifying a mismatch between what was taught and tested? Did the school buy the right test prep materials? Are we testing what the students learned, or just the students' skill at taking tests? Is it the quality of the learning environments, or the support the students receive at home? Could it be how much parents read to their kids? Luck? How many students were hungry, homeless or sick on testing days? Without that context, the MCA scores are numbers without much real meaning."

"There are so many things parents should know about their children's education that they can't learn from just an MCA score," Specht said. "Parents should be able to see the test questions and check for bias. They should know if technical issues affected their child's score. They should receive a comprehensive report on their child's correct and incorrect answers, so parents can tutor their children over the summer. Parents should even know how much time their child spent on lessons in test taking, so parents can make their own judgements about whether the test results are worth the lost learning time. Until parents receive that information, the best way for them to track the progress of their children is easy – ask their teachers."

About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.