Last spring, Jukovsky helped orchestrate a boycott of about 100 sophomores. When district MCAS scores came out last month, they showed a precipitous decline for CRLS. Cambridge school officials have attributed much of the plunge to the high proportion of boycotters in the 500-member tenth grade class.

"The emotional part of me is, aw good, we screwed it up. The Board of Ed must be really pissed," she says.

She says the boycott, which was larger in Cambridge than any city in the state, helped to focus public attention on MCAS. The boycott showed that students care about the disproportionate rate of MCAS failure for minority and low-income students, she says.

"It was the right thing to do last year. I don't think I'd take a similar approach this year," she says. Boycotting is "a pretty dangerous thing to do."

Starting this year, sophomores will have to pass the MCAS in order to graduate.

Jukovsky remains active in the Student Coalition for Alternatives to MCAS (SCAM), working two afternoons a week with the student-run group.

She said students in SCAM have met with state representatives and begun working with parent-led organizations that oppose the MCAS tests.

An Unexpected Victory