By December 2002, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) Retest had been administered, and all but one Thinking Map (the Bridge Map, which the school's students found to be the most abstract and difficult) had been introduced. During the administration of the test, nearly every student used Thinking Maps to organize written information on Language Arts and Mathematics open response questions as well as on the Literature portion of the exam. When the MCAS Retest scores arrived in March 2003, the school's administrators were able to credit significantly improved test scores to Thinking Maps exclusively, as no othervariables had been introduced during the academic year, and all classes followed the standard pattern which they have followed the last several years and to which returning students have grown accustomed.

In class with Colleen and students sharing Thinking Maps with writing, presentations, and more.
Watch the video clip in Quicktime (7:52)

After interpreting 2002 MCAS Language Arts Retest scores, administrators noted that reading comprehension was increased substantially, as evidenced by the rise in scores from 0 and 1 to 3 and 4 (ranging from low to high comprehension ratings); in previous years, out of a field of approximately 45 students, only a few students would score an occasional 3, and a 4 was even more rare, if it even appeared at all. On the 2002 MCAS Language Arts Retest scores, out of a field of 41 students, 13 students scored at least one 3 (and no higher) on an open response question, and 20 students scored at least one 4, indicating that comprehension had increased to passing levels for 33 out of 41 students.

David Hyerle interviews David, a student at Learning Prep.
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The school's students had utilized Thinking Maps as tools for processing and organizing information on the MCAS exam, and the benefits were apparent in their overall scores (see Appendix A). In previous years, a minor percentage of students passed each test; the majority failed. On the 2002 MCAS Language Arts Retest, however, 28 students passed, and 13 failed. Out of the 13 who failed, 8 students came within two points of a passing score. Twenty-six students passed, and 31 failed the 2002 MCAS Mathematics Retest. Seven students came within two points of a passing score, out of the 31 who failed.