S/O MSA

[Anonymous]

Can someone please explain why I should care about the MSA? I don't mean for this to come off as flip, but I genuinely don't know. What does it mean if my kid does well? What does it mean if he doesn't? My son is involved in a late afternoon/early evening activity and the family we carpool with just told me that they are keeping their son home to make sure he's well-rested for the test. It never occurred to me to do that!

What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher and a parent (though my child is not school-aged yet). The short version is, it really doesn't matter. The test measures what your child knows in reading and math based on the state standards. If he doesn't do well, it might be of concern to you, but it could also mean that he got fatigued during the test (it takes several hours over several days to complete-a lot for a young child to persevere through) or that he doesn't do a good job communicating his ideas through writing (in both subject areas, a lot of the test requires lengthy written responses).

[Anonymous]

My son's MSA results helped me get him some extra support in school.

[Anonymous]

It irritates me how much the schools emphasize the MSA's. They go on an on about them so much that it stresses out some of the kids. I always told my kids just to do their best, but do not spend time worrying about them. Yes, their scores can qualify them for things like the Johns Hopkins CTY program, but generally they don't mean much on an individual level.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, there are very real consequences for schools if the results aren't good, due to No Child Left Behind, and so therefore they have to make a big deal out of it. It turns into a lot of ridiculous things-like having MSA "pep rallies" for elementary school students and offering incentives for students who complete extra prep packets (like ice cream or pizza parties or prizes for kids who complete and turn them in).

[Anonymous]

Oh (15:42 here) and I forgot to mention-I'm a teacher and I can assure you that there is no one, and I mean no one, in a school, who enjoys anything about MSA. It's just part of our job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, there are very real consequences for schools if the results aren't good, due to No Child Left Behind, and so therefore they have to make a big deal out of it. It turns into a lot of ridiculous things-like having MSA "pep rallies" for elementary school students and offering incentives for students who complete extra prep packets (like ice cream or pizza parties or prizes for kids who complete and turn them in).

It's ridiculous, but not entirely unexpected, that the MSAs have become such an event, and my kid is also one of the ones who gets stressed out by it. Wish this much energy went into the rest of the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Why the hell were they scheduled for the day after daylight savings time. Such a bad day to have a test!

Our school did have a pep rally (my kids enjoyed the songs) but thankfully didn't have extra incentive packs or extra homework due to the MSA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, there are very real consequences for schools if the results aren't good, due to No Child Left Behind, and so therefore they have to make a big deal out of it. It turns into a lot of ridiculous things-like having MSA "pep rallies" for elementary school students and offering incentives for students who complete extra prep packets (like ice cream or pizza parties or prizes for kids who complete and turn them in).

It's ridiculous, but not entirely unexpected, that the MSAs have become such an event, and my kid is also one of the ones who gets stressed out by it. Wish this much energy went into the rest of the curriculum.

I agree. I hate the whole thing and would prefer to keep my kid home altogether during MSAs.

Before you excoriate me for this, let me hasten to add that my wife is a teacher and I understand what is at stake. But to put this on the backs of the kids is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I didn't realize that parents would receive the scores. I thought they were solely for the schools and the state. How does that work? Mailed to you? Percentile rankings?

[Anonymous]

My son was freaked out because he heard at school that his teacher would be fired if he did poorly. And then the Principal held a "pep rally" and told the kids that two students once had perfect scores on their MSAs and went on to Harvard University. My son was up worrying until 10 pm last night. Someone needs to inform administrators how NOT to stress kids out before an exam!

[Anonymous]

The lower performing schools are usually the ones who have to worry. They are the ones with the most at stake so they are the ones that usually start the rest prep early- sometimes in September!

[Anonymous]

We got mailed the test results about 6 months after the test!

They give your child a scaled score and then a rating of basic (failed) Proficient (passed) and Advanced (high pass).

What they don't tell you about that scaled score and that I find interesting is that to pass at the proficient level your kids has to get about 50% of the answers correct. "Advanced" means about 75% correct. The score is mostly multiple choice with 4 possible answers to each question, so a 50% correct score isn't really saying al that much.

I think the Advanced rate (75% correct) shoudl be required for a Proficient rating, and 90% correct -- remember this is a test of basic skills on a curriculum taht was delivered all year) shoudl be labelled "Advanced". But that is just me!

Also -- I don't think the writing responses are all that strenuous. Kids might write a lot, but you don't need to write much to score a 3. It's pretty minimal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was freaked out because he heard at school that his teacher would be fired if he did poorly. And then the Principal held a "pep rally" and told the kids that two students once had perfect scores on their MSAs and went on to Harvard University. My son was up worrying until 10 pm last night. Someone needs to inform administrators how NOT to stress kids out before an exam!

Why wait for "someone?" YOU should be that person to inform the school/admin. It is time for parents to feel empowered to communicate with their schools. If the principal's words make my kid stress out like this, he'd hear from me.