Jason McCoy (Cradlerock) and Ron Morris (Stevens Forest) agreed that the principal at the school with the lower Maryland State Assessments scores would have to complete a dare. In past years embarrassing tasks resulting from their challenges included the option of taking a sip of soup made of smelly socks, riding around the parking lot on a scooter dressed in a tutu or hand-washing the other's car.
On Friday, McCoy was scheduled to sing Stevens Forest's school song from that school's rooftop.
Morris is excited to have his students witness the "horrible singing" of McCoy. To add insult to injury, one line in the Stevens Forest song is, "Stevens Forest is the best."
"We want to hear Mr. McCoy bellow this line so that the entire Stevens Forest community can hear," Morris said.
Using dares to motivate students to turn in good performances on the MSA is nothing new. Two years ago, a principal had his head shaved after 95 percent of the 501 students showed up for the four days of MSA testing. Two additional principals agreed to get into a dunking booth to challenge their students.
The MSA is a big deal. It is used in part to determine "adequate yearly progress," the yardstick under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
AYP is used to determine whether children can transfer to higher-performing schools. It also can affect federal funding to schools.
