MCAS Weirdness

In 3rd grade, Emily took the MCAS in the classroom, with the distraction of other students and whatever classroom distractions there may have been. She scored Proficient in both English and Math.

This past school year (4th grade), she took the test in a small conference room, with 3-5 other students. This was an accommodation added to her existing 504 plan, per her teacher's request. We just got the 4th grade results and she got "Needs Improvement" in both areas.

So with the Math, I can totally see this being a "true to life" result. I know it's more of a struggle for her (mainly due to the logical, organized way in which Math must be done). With the English though? The girl has an 8th grade spelling level and and a 10th grade reading level (this according to her neuro-psych eval done in January of this year). That aside, my own observations of her skill in this year, combined with her self expressed enjoyment of it, leads me to assume that something was just off on that day. It also makes me wonder if, despite the distractions of a classroom setting, she might do better in that situation.

This also proves, at least to me that passing the MCAS should not be the sole indicator of whether or not a child graduates high school, as Emily seems to indicate that sometimes, you can just have an "off day."