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Should JGMS Bring Back the Honor Roll?
By: Reagan Puhak and Priscilla Park
In the previous months, there have been discussions about whether or not to bring back honor roll at JGMS. Honor roll was discontinued in 2020, but recently administrators have been asking for feedback about if it should be brought back. There are many differing opinions about the positives and negatives of bringing this system back.
Many people feel that one of the main benefits would be encouraging students to do their best. On the subject, Mrs. Cowles said, “I think the honor roll encourages students because it motivates them and is a goal for them to shoot for.” Some people thrive when they have a goal or other source of external motivation. Having something to aim for would probably make many students want to work harder. In addition to motivation, an honor roll would also provide recognition to students for their hard work. After putting in so much effort, people want to have that effort rewarded and have their accomplishments celebrated. Because of this reason, a large number of students are in favor of having honor rolls as a way to celebrate their work.
With this being said, there are also arguments for how the honor roll could negatively impact students. Many people already feel that students are too focused on grades, and believe that the new system would only make this issue worse. Mrs. Mangini said, “I don’t think the honor roll should be brought back because students should focus on learning and not just earning good grades…It takes away actually trying to learn something and doesn’t leave room for students to make mistakes.” It’s a real possibility that students could become more focused on getting the grade than learning the concept. An honor roll may also increase stress levels for students if they feel this is the only way to be recognized for their efforts. About this idea, Mrs. Little said, “ I think honor for many students can be a motivator, but can be frustrating if students are working hard but aren’t being recognized.”
In addition to this conversation, there are also discussions on other ways to acknowledge students and how grades should be used. Several different teachers mentioned that they think grades should be used as a way to reflect their own teaching or that they should be more focused on a student’s effort. It’s important that we give credit to the students who work hard, even if they don’t get the perfect grade.
Perspectives on MCAS and Standardized Tests
By Andrew Majnoun and Ansel Chiou
Introduction
Every year in April and May, students in Massachusetts prepare to take the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, commonly known as the MCAS (students tend to joke that MCAS stands for "Massachusetts Child Abuse System"), which is a statewide standardized assessment. The purpose of the MCAS is to assess students on the knowledge and skills that they learned in English Language Arts and Mathematics over the past year. It is a way for teachers to see what the students may need to work on for next year. In 5th and 8th grade, students also take the Science MCAS, which assesses students on all of the science topics they covered for the past three years. I’m sure most people agree that taking the test is quite draining and not something that they would want to do at all, but it is required by the state, and most other states have similar standardized tests, so it is something everyone has to do at some point or another.
Andrew Majnoun’s Personal Opinion
In my personal opinion, I agree with a majority of student opinions which is that yes, taking the MCAS is not a pleasant experience. But I don’t absolutely agree with the reasons why other students dislike it. I just think that having students sit down twice every year to take a test isn’t a full showcase of the student’s full abilities. I do not think there is any point in testing students in things they’ve already been tested in. People might say it’s a way to see what students remember over the past year or two, but I just think that that’s kind of a problem. Why test students to see what they remember or not from the past year when you can just make them remember it well in the first place. They keep testing us to see what they need to improve, but if we learn it well from the beginning, we don’t need to take a single test that decides our future. I’m not saying there aren’t always ways to improve, I just think that doing it well the first time is the best way for people to remember it.
Ansel Chiou’s Personal Opinion
My belief is that a standardized test is the best option viable to the school and state. While I agree with my co-author that the test is not fun, I can’t find a better solution to the state’s problem: The state of Massachusetts has to, in some way, determine how successful its schools are in educating their students. The standardized assessment appears to be the best option. This assessment should determine how well a student performs on skills that the state views to be that of whatever grade they are in. It makes the data easier to look at if everyone was asked the same questions. Then again, for some people, English might not be their thing and likewise Math. It does, though, give the school an idea as to how well a student is doing compared to their peers. It would be insanely difficult to determine how well a student is doing compared to another if they were given different tests.
Teacher Opinions
MCAS isn’t ideal for teachers either. When asked about how MCAS affected her schedule, Ms. Goodhue’s answer offers insight to the teacher point of view of MCAS. “Not only does the test prep impact class time but the actual administration of the test itself means that on test days students' brains are ready for a break vs ready to learn something new.” Not many students think of how MCAS affects teachers, but when students’ energy has all been used on MCAS, they arrive to class with a different level of focus. Imagine an olympian running a marathon, but having to run another marathon to get to their car, but this one isn’t timed or competitive. They would probably take their sweet time. It’s most likely the same case with students. (I think) This is why on MCAS days, teachers tend to take it slow and don’t cover the same amount of material they would if it were a normal day. MCAS’s effects on the brain make teaching difficult for teachers, so they can do less than they want to and that interrupts learning.
As seen in previous paragraphs, some students have a negative opinion of MCAS. Ms. Goodhue however wants us to set aside this mindset. “It's important for students and teachers alike to take this test seriously and set aside negative feelings about it. Learning to complete standardized tests is a life skill whether we agree with that fact or not. I believe it's our responsibility as a school to work together to keep our attitudes positive (or at least neutral).” Ms. Goodhue highlights some good points here of how this test is serious and that standardized tests are a life skill. Like it or not, all across the world college entrance exams are standard and in some cases, like in China, may determine what schools you are allowed to attend. MCAS may offer insight as to what these tests look like in the future. MCAS is still needed, but teachers do appreciate that it is not fun to take it.
Here is what Ms. Grammenos thought about it:
1. How does MCAS affect how you teach?
On MCAS days, I try to give less demanding work to my students. I use it as a time to catch up and clean up what we are working on. Since I teach for proficiency and Spanish is not an MCAS subject, MCAS does not affect how I teach. However, since my students will take an online proficiency test during Spanish 2 as 8th graders, I aim to have my students achieve certain proficiency skill levels by the end of the year.
2. How does MCAS affect your schedule?
I proctor some of the MCAS exams depending on which grades I teach. On MCAS days I see some of my students, so I have to be careful not to cover new material since some students may be taking extra time.
3. What do you think about MCAS? Are there alternatives you would like or not?
From a teacher's perspective, I feel that MCAS creates a lot of pressure for students to show that they know certain skills and I am not sure it accounts for disruptions like COVID or some kinds of gaps certain students may have. I don't know how MCAS addresses gaps they observe in students from test year to test year - I am assuming MCAS scores help students gain access to support if gaps are seen. I also feel that MCAS dictates what teachers can teach their students and that can be confining and boring for a teacher and unnatural. For example, if a science teacher needs their students to have specific results for a given experiment, the teacher may not have time to allow the students to try and fail and try again on their own time/terms. It might get rid of some of the fun and mystery to science and "discovering" something new when you have to achieve a certain result every time.
4. How do you think the MCAS could be improved or changed to better serve students and teachers?
From a World Language perspective, we focus on "proficiency" which is what students can do with the language with the big picture goals being "what can students understand?" and "can students be understood when they communicate (speaking or writing)?". Proficiency creates space for the learning process (making mistakes, self correcting, and going at one's own pace) and does not have a "one-size-fits-all" way of learning. For example, some students cannot connect to or understand verb conjugations; however, if they know the meaning of the basic form of the verb and some subject pronouns, they can make a comprehensible sentence and have a conversation, send an email, ask a question and essentially get by in that language. Proficiency standards focus on what students CAN DO rather than what they CAN'T, and is less about comparisons to peers; I am not sure how MCAS grades - it would be good if they look at both proficiency and accuracy as they grade the tests and provide an explanation with the scores on what students can do to improve in areas that they were weaker in and what they did they showed their strengths.
5. How do you think the MCAS affects the students' motivation and confidence?
Great question - I am not sure. Students talk about it once it is done, they seem to take it seriously and I believe they do their best. I do not know if or that they have MCAS in mind throughout the year as a motivator when they are learning; I think students want to have fun and learn - I believe this may be more on their minds than making sure they get a high score on MCAS. It can also depend on how a child's family feels about MCAS and standardized testing; if it is a conversation at home, that student may be more motivated to do well at school in order to do well on MCAS.
6. How do you use the data that the MCAS provides?
When JGMS teachers meet to review data, we use it in combination with other scores and data (such as attendance, participation, and well being factors) to evaluate how a student is doing.
Here is what Ms. Little thought about it:
1. How does MCAS affect how you teach?
MCAS data informs teachers about which areas students have already mastered and which areas they need to focus on to increase their level of understanding. The data can be helpful when looking at patterns and trends from one year to the next.
2. How does MCAS affect your schedule?
For the majority of the year, MCAS does not impact the schedule. However, due to Internet issues this year, we had to shuffle rooms and change the order of the periods quite a bit during testing days.
3. What do you think about MCAS? Are there alternatives you would like or not?
I think the MCAS tests can be helpful when used as a single data point in conjunction with other assessments, such as in-class essays or quizzes. It's important to remember that there are so many external factors that can impact a students' performance on their testing day, and to take that into consideration as well.
4. How do you think the MCAS could be improved or changed to better serve students and teachers?
One idea is to use a test that can be taken in a single day, instead of two per subject area. As it stands now, an 8th-grader is subjected to six days of state testing (two for ELA, two for Math, two for Science Technology Engineering). When combined with district-led common assessments, students can lose over twenty periods of instructional time over the course of the year for the sake of data collection.
Conclusion
There are many different views and opinions about the MCAS, but for now everyone just has to complete it. Good luck!
Sources:
Response to Spirit Week
By Winter Cox
Spirit weeks are a fun festivity that resembles a mini-Halloween within the community. Many previous spirit weeks had featured students and teachers fully decked out in their festive gear. And as this school year is coming to an end, we get to see yet another one come to JGMS. Although the turnout of this spirit week had not been as good as its predecessors, it definitely had some amount of impact on the last week. From the outrage of cowboy hats on Tuesday to the Mickey ears on Friday, these are the turnouts for the April JGMS spirit week.
To kick off spirit week, students dressed up in a known classic of spirit week, Hawaiian/Beach-themed clothing. Students might commonly wear leis, shorts or t-shirts, and sandals. As expected, the turnout of the first day was rather low, with teachers being the majority of participants. Students who did take part mostly wore leis and floral-print aloha shirts. The low turnout was also partially expected, with the 8th graders having to take their ELA MCAS at the start of the week. Even with the rocky start, spirit week still managed to thrive.
Although the week didn't get off to a great start, Tuesday definitely made its debut as one of (if not) the top days. The theme of the second day was ‘Dallas, Texas’, which is basically a synonym for ‘cowboy’. Students definitely stepped up from Monday, with some even going full-cowboy. Some even had stick-on handlebar mustaches attached to their faces! However, most of the students were simply wearing old-fashioned cowboy hats. A good deal of these cowboy hats were colored hot pink with lighter pink fur around the rim of the hat. It is unknown if these pink hats all came from one person, who was distributing them, or if the pink hat brigade each purchased their own hat. Either way, this large amount of cowboy hats definitely put Tuesday in first place for the top outcome of this month’s spirit week.
Mr. McGrath (Right) and Mrs. Naylor (Left) wearing cowboy outfits on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, students were encouraged to wear patriotic red, white, and blue. The turnout was pretty good considering the other days of the week, with students wearing an assortment of items. Some wore nationalistic glasses and hats, while others just coordinated their clothing to match the American colors. Wednesday was also filled with people who added little details to their outfits. Although these students were in the minority of the popular outfits, it didn't stop them from wearing American-themed earrings, shoes, and other accessories. The color-matching trend would also continue to Thursday, where color-coordination was also prominent there.
Now the week was really picking up, Thursday was basically promised to have a good attendance. The theme was Area 51/Men in Black. Where students could dress up as an alien or agent from the popular movie series, Men in Black. This would cause most students to simply dress in all-black, which allowed a simple way to show spirit without the need to get more elaborate. Still, many of the students decided to add accessories to make their outfit stand out more. These students who dressed in black also brought shades or sunglasses to complete the look, and some wearing full-on tuxedos. For the aliens, kids wore alien glasses and extra-terrestrial antenna attached to headbands.
Mr. McGrath (Left) and Mrs. Naylor (Right) wearing Area 51 alien costumes on Thursday.
Finally, Friday was themed on Disney and Universal. The turnout for this was around the same as it was on Wednesday, with maybe a little less participation. Most students dressed with Disney apparel such as shirts depicting characters from their favorite movies. One common item of clothing among teachers and students were Mickey/Minnie ears, attached to headbands and hats. Other hats (such as Goofy’s hat with his ears) were also seen to be a favored choice.
Mrs. Santos (Left), Mrs. LeBlanc (Middle), and Mrs. Limoli (Right) wearing Minnie ears on Friday.
Although this spirit week didn’t get as many participants as the other ones we’ve seen this year, it definitely was an engaging experience. Even if you're only there to wear a hat.
What's the Point of Grades?
What's the Point of Grades?
A good deal of the people reading this article will have taken some form of test and/or quiz and have been graded based on them. They have also most likely been given a grade on something. Tests, grades and quizzes can be nerve wracking, but their purpose can be misinterpreted easily. JGMS is a school, with teachers, so I set out to find out the teachers’ perspective on this topic.
One question asked was what teacher’s thought about the term, “Grades don’t matter.” There were conflicted answers to this question as Mrs. d’Entremont thinks that she disagrees, “that grades don't matter. Your grade shows what you know, and it reflects your student skills either positively or negatively. For example, you practice your skills by doing homework and classwork in a timely manner.” A key takeaway from this is that your grade is reflective of how you are doing in a class. On the other hand, Mrs. Grammenos says she thinks that, “grades matter insofar as they include your skill development. So we tend to be really obsessed with getting a certain grade but the reality is what does that grade actually mean? Does it mean that you can actually do that skill, or you crammed, you studied and you forgot.” What both of these teachers have pointed to is that your grade reflects how you are progressing. What Mrs. Grammenos indicates though, is that this also has a second dimension as students may merely study hard for this test, grade etc., only to forget what they have learned. Mrs. Little also adds to this by asking whether the point of school is, “to learn the material, or to get a certain mark?” While grades do present a view into your progress as a student, this only can go so far as students may have more or less than what their grade shows, and maybe, just maybe, we are looking at the wrong thing when we talk about achievement in school.
When asked about how tests/quizzes were used, there was a common theme. Among the teachers who responded, the teachers all said that they used quizzes far more often than tests, with both of them used to demonstrate knowledge at that point in time.
JGMS has a school directive that says that no student should have a failing grade at any point. That means that all grades below a 55% shall be lifted back up. This has already been covered by Reagan Puhak and Mila Maricic in their article. This topic has had some conflict, but it was implemented so that, “the student has a fighting chance of improving their grade in the future.” Mrs. Grammenos says, “ I think that in middle school, and in highschool and in college actually when you put in the work you won’t get a fifty-five, so if the material is super challenging you'll maybe not do well on tests and quizzes, and it could put your grade in jeopardy but I think as long as you do the work and you maybe retake the quizzes or maybe go for extra help there won’t be this question about that being on the line and whether you’re bumping someone above or below it usually I think that ifs someone is a fifty-five it's pretty clear that their score. I’m not a big fan of grades, because they’re inflated. Because it also affects our self esteem, and that’s unfortunate but that connection is still there. So when a person gets a B they don’t feel like they didn’t get an A, instead, they know the stuff pretty well. If you get an A, things are just too easy for you.” These comments reflect that what happens in-class is just as important as what happens with your grade. Mrs. d’Entremont comments that, “teachers don’t want students to give up.” A fifty-five could be detrimental to a student's grade and teachers want students to think that they still can get out of that hole and should keep participating in class. Mrs. Little both supports this and questions this, “I see the reasoning for why having a 55% minimum allows students to not get stuck in a hole that they can’t dig out of in the future. At the same time, are we rewarding minimal effort and devaluing grades as a tool to reflect what a student has mastered in a class?” The interviewed teachers all shared their own opinions, but those were divided.
Your grade is a partial reflection of your progress in a class and doesn’t reflect you in your whole. Perhaps you don’t score perfectly. It shouldn’t define you. The focus is very much on the grade, when you could look at what you learned today and take that with you as well. One very intelligent man named Benjamin Franklin once said, "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."
-Article written by Ansel Chiou
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