Massachusetts has granted appeals to roughly 200 students who demonstrated-via good grades, stellar attendance, teacher recommendations, and having taken part in MCAS tutoring-that they knew enough to graduate despite thrice failing at least one section of the state exit test by a narrow margin. State Education Commissioner David Driscoll called the appeals process a "national model" and hopes it will assuage critics who view MCAS as ruthless and unbending. "There do seem to be instances where kids are thrown off by a test," he said. (Driscoll explains further in a letter that appears below.) "MCAS waivers give hope to others," by Michele Kurtz, The Boston Globe, December 11, 2002
