The state’s move to require high school juniors to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test instead of the Maine Educational Assessment is a good idea that will have far reaching benefits.
Unlike the MEAs, which only matter to the schools, the SATs can have an effect on students’ futures, especially those who are going off to college.
The plan of substituting the SAT for the MEA, at least for juniors, will serve two purposes. First, by using a test that could have an effect on their futures, kids will have a reason to work harder on the test, which will in turn paint a more accurate picture of a school’s performance.
Secondly, by requiring all juniors to take the SAT, some kids who thought college was out of their reach could look at their scores and reconsider continuing their education.
Up until this year, juniors were required to take the MEAs, and each school’s performance was evaluated based on those scores. The trouble was, despite school administrators’ best efforts, many kids simply didn’t take the tests seriously.
“In six years of using the state’s MEA at grade 11, we found kids weren’t putting in their best effort,” said Dan Hupp, the regional education specialist for the state Department of Education.
And it isn’t just state education officials saying that; the kids are saying it as well.
When she took the MEA in eighth grade three years ago, Westbrook junior Amanda Vincent said many kids didn’t care about the test. “We knew that (the MEA test) wasn’t going to impact us,” she said.
By all accounts, that has changed this year. In Westbrook, most of the 200 students in the junior class have taken the test, with 168 coming in on a recent Saturday. That is much higher than the 45 percent of juniors who usually take the SAT in Westbrook.
However, this plan does carry a cost. As part of the requirement, the state paid for the cost of online test preparation courses as well as the $41.50 cost for each student to take the test. In addition, schools like Westbrook High offered students a variety of rewards, ranging from small scholarships and pizza parties to early-release-from-school privileges usually reserved for seniors.
And the students have responded to the new system. Junior Adam Hamilton, who was one of the kids who gave up a Saturday morning to take the SAT, said he thought the idea of offering early release privileges probably motivated a lot of kids to take the test as well.
What’s also impressive is that the new plan has some kids who normally struggle in school giving college a second thought.
Junior Ryan Griffin, a student in Westbrook’s alternative learning program, said he wasn’t going to take the test. But he changed his mind because he wanted to go on a ski trip being offered to alternative learning students who took the test.
Now, Griffin said he wants to try to get accepted at a college, and he knows the SATs will play a big part in his future plans.
It’s stories like that that make any extra expense of substituting the SAT for the MEA worth it. While it’s important to have as accurate a picture of a school’s performance as possible, it’s more important to encourage as many kids as possible to stay in school.
Mike Higgins, assistant editor
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