Opponents of high-stakes testing in Massachusetts are running out of time to convince a public that has largely accepted testing and academic standards, according to reporter Ed Hayward of the Boston Herald. A rally in Boston organized by a handful of students who spent their spring vacation lobbying for an end to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) graduation requirement drew only 40 people, mostly the students' parents and hard-core organizers of efforts to end the exam. While opponents of the MCAS remain in some of the state's most liberal locales, the high profile boycotts that took place in 2000 have declined drastically as scores have risen, Hayward writes. The percentage of students who passed the English section of the test jumped from 66 percent to 82 percent between 2000 and 2001, and the percentage who passed the math section rose from 55 percent to 75 percent. For more see "MCAS protests waning as exam gains acceptance," by Ed Hayward, Boston Herald, April 21, 2002.
