Two weeks after the state released the results, the implications of Cambridge's dismal showing in last spring's MCAS tests are still sinking in.

Although state scores moved up incrementally, Cambridge scores did not keep pace. The city saw no improvement--and even declines. Even after taking into account many eighth- and 10th-graders who boycotted the test, scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System showed no advances.

Students in grades 4, 8 and 10 take a battery of multiple-choice and written tests each spring in English, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and Social Studies. The tests are part of the Education Reform Act of 1993, which doubled state aid to education and established MCAS as a way of holding local school districts accountable for their students' performance.

The stagnant scores on these exams have frustrated school leaders in Cambridge, who had anticipated positive effects of recent literacy and curriculum initiatives.

School committee member Alfred B. Fantini calls the test scores a "wake-up call" and says he is frustrated that, despite vast amounts of data and resources committed to lowering class size and hiring teachers aides, test scores continue languishing. Cambridge has the highest per-pupil spending in the state--nearly $15,000 per student--but the money is not yielding results.

"We've done what other schools dream to do. Most superintendents would tell you if we only had small classes and teachers aides, our test scores would be off the wall," he says. "We have that and it's not happening."

"You've got to wonder where we're going," he adds. "It feels good when I'm in the schools but the test grades are not very high. The test grades are terrible."

Taking MCAS Seriously