Mass. school superintendent fails must-pass English test

Associated Press ^ | 08-03-03

[Brian S]

This city's superintendent of schools, who recently put two dozen teachers on unpaid leave for failing a basic English proficiency test, has himself flunked a required literacy test three times.

Wilfredo T. Laboy called his failing scores "frustrating" and "emotional." He blamed his performance on a lack of preparation and concentration, as well as the fact that that Spanish is his first language.

[Vinnie]

What brought me down was the rules of grammar and punctuation

This is BS

I had a difficult time with English in High School. The biggest help was taking Spanish. The 'rules' are the same, other than the upside down question mark at the beginning of a question. Grammar is identical.
For some reason I could learn the 'rules', and grammar in Spanish easier than in English. Then I would apply those rules in English class. It was a big help.

[dennisw]

S'no Joke
Date: Thursday, April 17 @ 20:59:56
Topic School-Public


Thousands of fourth-graders in Boston will be re-taking the state’s standardized MCAS test because a question involving snow days on the original was perceived as culturally biased against kids from warmer climates who have never seen snow, reports the New York Times.

Wilfredo T. Laboy, superintendent of the predominantly Spanish-speaking Lawrence district, said: "I believe it is culturally biased. For kids from Santo Domingo, Southeast Asia or other warm climates, what do they say about snow?"

When a Snow Day Is More Than Just Play
THE NEW YORK TIMES

Many fourth graders at Hernandez Elementary School here do not remember what they did on their last snow day, which was two years ago. Others like Gabriel Prado, 10, remember just the painful parts, like being hit by a snowball thrown by his older brother.

Although the students cross their fingers and hope for the big morning announcement every time the sky becomes gray, two years, they say, is a long time to think back on their last lucky break. And that has become a problem for the students, who have to retake part of the state's standardized test.

A question on the fourth-grade writing section of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, which all the state's fourth graders took on Thursday, asked them to imagine waking up to their "dream come true," school being canceled because of a snowstorm. Students were asked to "write a story about a snow day off from school that you remember."

It has been years since many Massachusetts school districts, including Boston, have canceled school because of inclement weather. Although heavy snow fell this winter, almost all of it was on weekends or vacations.

Many students, educators said, have no idea what a snow day is. That is especially true in urban districts, they say, where many students have emigrated from countries with warm climates. Urban students are also at a disadvantage because they, unlike their suburban counterparts, often do not "have mom at home to do activities with" and often just watch television, said Margarita Muniz, principal at Hernandez Elementary, a bilingual school that teaches primarily in English.

Wilfredo T. Laboy, superintendent of the Lawrence district, which is 89 percent Spanish speaking, said: "I believe it is culturally biased. For kids from Santo Domingo, Southeast Asia or other warm climates, what do they say about snow?"

A spokeswoman for the State Education Department, Heidi Perlman, said the question went through a rigorous evaluation, including passage before a bias review committee. The department, Ms. Perlman said, did not consider that some students might not know what a snow day is. But after some parents called, the department decided to give principals at schools that did not have snow days the option of re-administering the test on May 8. The principals also have the option of giving the test to individual students who might have been at a disadvantage because they recently arrived from a warmer climate.

The question, which, on its face, seemed "harmless enough," Ms. Perlman said, and was meant just to judge writing ability.

"It's entirely a question to judge how well a student can write," she said. "If a student can write an essay about watching TV, that's fine. It's looking at their grammar, their spelling and their writing. It's not about the content."

Boston is the sole district that requires all fourth graders — almost 5,000 — to retake the test, said Jonathan Palumbo, a spokesman for the Boston Public Schools. He said the district wanted to give all students the same opportunity to do well.

Thomas Potter, superintendent of the Central Berkshire district in western Massachusetts, canceled school once this year. Mr. Potter can understand why some parents might be suspicious about the question if their children had not had snow days, but said most students in the state could imagine what a snow day would be like.

"I don't think it's culturally biased at all," Mr. Potter said.

Rebecca Jackson, 10, from Hernandez Elementary, said the test was "sort of hard" because she "knows what I do on snow days, but not on particular snow days." She wrote about "three things I like to do when it snows: ice skating, forts and sledding."

Victor Mejia, 9, said he thought that the question was not fair because some students like him had trouble remembering what occurred two years ago, a long, long time in a fourth grader's world. But Kevin Vega, 10, said it was not difficult for him to remember the shiny sled that he used with his family.

"Some of us can't forget that day," Kevin said.

When asked whether they wanted to retake the test, class members screeched a high-pitched drawn-out, "Nooooo!"

"Does this mean we have to take the MCAS again?" Gabriel asked. "I don't want to. It was annoying enough the first time."

[DoughtyOne]

Amazing.

[Consort]

"What brought me down was the rules of grammar and punctuation," Laboy said.

Should was be were?

[livius]

Immigrants should be proficient in English, and I think most of them want to be - until they hit the public schools, which tell them this isn't important.

I don't know anything about Laboy's performance in his job. Maybe he's great, or maybe he's the typical loser Democratic party hack who was essentially appointed by the teachers' union.

In any case, while he's personally responsible for his failures, I'd say that the whole atttiude comes from the idiocies of the teachers' unions and, in fact, the entire educational establishment, which decided in the early 1970s that learning had nothing to do with education.

The important thing was indoctrination into left-wing social beliefs. Along with things such as learning how to put condoms on cucumbers.

[SpinyNorman]

"What brought me down was the rules of grammar and punctuation,".....

As this sentence illustrates.

This guy will keep his job because he "is Hispanic enough," yet Miguel Estrada is being pilloried for his achievements in life! (Someone tell Laboy what pilloried means).

Nobody in Massachusetts will lay a finger on this guy, who is clearly a diversity hire. Sickening. I hope he doesn't have direct contact with the children.

Since 1998, all Massachusetts educators -- from teachers to superintendents -- have had to pass the Communications and Literacy Skills Test, which measures basic reading and writing skills, including vocabulary, punctuation, grammar, spelling and capitalization.

Laboy, who receives a 3 percent pay hike this month that will raise his salary to $156,560, recently put 24 teachers on unpaid administrative leave because they failed a basic English test.

I wodner how many chances the 24 got to pass. Bet it wasn't this many! Maybe Laboy and the 24 teachers could have an Ebonics shootout to see who gets to keep their job.

And people wonder why I walk around shaking my head!

[vaudine]

Well, gosh! Don't they have the answer? I do!

Just give bilingual educators/administrators the option of taking the English proficiency test in English or Spanish/Arabic/Greek,etc. That should make perfect sense to the Ed. Dept. And if it doesn't, just take it to the courts--they can see what the Europeans think about it.

vaudine

[OldEagle]

I'm stuck. I cant find his bio or CV as we say in the South. Does anybody know where he was born and raised. If I were a gambler, I'd bet he is a Mass. native.

[orchid]

I whole heartedly agree with you.
I was fortunate to learn from many people during my working days. People who not only did, but who had the ability to teach me how to do also. Yes, the exception does prove the rule.

Best to you.

[DoughtyOne]

I would be willing to wager that most immigrants have more common sense than those who advocate for them.

As for you comments on this guy, and his situation, I am in agreement with you.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

"What brought me down was the rules....." Laboy said.

Should was be were?

Yes. I was going to point that out but decided to read all replies first. That is very basic grammar not teacher kind of stuff.

[SpinyNorman]

I, for one, would like to see the test itself. IMO, I am more than competent in the English language and I'd like to see how I do.

I could use a $156,000 job.

You wouldn't have a prayer in Massachusetts unless you changed your screen name to "Just another Jose!!

[SpinyNorman]

Whoops!! I forgot to close my last remark with another quotation mark!! I hope Laboy doesn't come after me!!

[eno_]

Now you know exactly what an edumacation Ph.D. is world.

[optimistically_conservative]

Overall Achievement: The level of achievement associated with Lowell’s students in Grades 4, 8, and 10 is significantly below the State average. Lowell is one of the five largest public school systems in the Commonwealth and it is one of the ten lowest in overall student achievement with a Proficiency Index of 58.1. Lowell students do better in English language arts (ELA) than in math. This is true of students in other districts and is reflected in a higher average achievement rate in ELA than in math. However, in absolute math achievement and in subgroup math achievement, students scale scores in math lag behind ELA, especially within the system’s elementary schools. Furthermore, math achievement is significantly lower than State averages. It is important to add however, that Lowell has a highly effective MCAS remediation strategy, giving it one of the lowest MCAS failure rates of large cities in the Commonwealth.

[Morgan's Raider]

... Wilfredo T. Laboy, superintendent of the Lawrence district, which is 89 percent Spanish speaking...

HOW THE F*** DID THIS HAPPEN IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?

Note to Claire Wolfe - is it time???

[yooper]

"Those who can, do. Those who cannot,teach."

Actually, the correct phrase is: "Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, teach Phys. Ed."

[freebilly]

Laboy, who receives a 3 percent pay hike this month that will raise his salary to $156,560.

Based on the performance of students in the Lawrence, Mass schools, this clown deserves a salary of $15,650./ year.

[Maigrey]

(bleep)in' Hypocrite! He should either pass the test or quit. Nothing else matters!

[summer]

Re your post #4 - I agree!