Coady says he has reservations about MCAS. What he wants, he says, is an annual assessment so student performance can be monitored year-to-year, rather than waiting for MCAS scores at grades 4, 8 and 10.
But he supports the test--and as principal he was serious about getting students to take it.
When three eighth-graders suggested they might boycott the test, Coady called the students and their parents into his office.
"I told them we take great pride in taking the MCAS and doing well," he says. "This is an important test for us, because as we do well on it....We continue to attract parents."
All three students took the test.
On the Horizon
This spring for the first time, a diploma will be on the line for sophomores taking MCAS. And next year, the eighth-graders taking the test will have taken it as fourth-graders--so their performance can be compared directly.
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