MCAS TESTS MAY BE SHELVED FOR YEARS
Coronavirus concerns trump standardized test scores
The state’s high-stakes MCAS exam would be suspended for four years due to the coronavirus pandemic under a bill before lawmakers for written testimony Monday.
The Joint Committee on Education is taking written testimony on the bill, which would institute a four-year moratorium on the use of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System as a graduation requirement.
“Returning to learning in the fall will require complex planning, safety precautions, and possibly dramatic changes to pedagogy and curricula,” the bill’s lead sponsor, state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, said in a statement.
“As Massachusetts students and teachers do the tireless work of learning recovery and rebuilding community engagement and trust,” Comerford said, “pressure-filled, highstakes testing should be the very last thing on their minds.”
If passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker, the bill would extend the reprieve granted this spring, when the pandemic began.
The bill also would create a commission to study alternatives to the standardized test, which was developed with the state’s landmark 1993 education reform law.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, endorsed the bill, which would put a pause on the MCAS graduation requirement through the 2023-2024 school year.
“In this moment in America, there is a growing awareness of the way that systemic racism is foundational in our public institutions — including education — and there is a vibrant movement to dismantle it,” MTA President Merrie Najimy said.
“Research has shown that
statewide assessments like the MCAS essentially reflect and perpetuate social, racial and economic inequality,” Najimy said.
The Massachusetts chapter of the American Federation of Teachers also supports the bill.
“Massachusetts students are worried about the risk of becoming infected themselves, or bringing the coronavirus home to their families. Many are worried about where their next meal will come from, or whether their family will face eviction if they can’t pay their rent. They’re worried about how they’ll keep learning when it’s more difficult to work closely with educators and other students,” said Andrew Farnitano, an AFT spokesman. “The last thing they should have to worry about this year is preparing for highstakes testing.”
“While standardized tests have never been an adequate measure of student learning, tests in a time of pandemic cannot possibly measure student learning with any validity,” he said. “Teachers and students must be able to focus on staying healthy and problem-solving to sustain our education system, and not have to worry about test prep.”
Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said that although MCAS data can be useful in diagnosing students’ needs and helping teachers improve, under extraordinary circumstances such as the pandemic, students scores are likely to drop, and school committee members are concerned that districts will end up getting punished for it in terms of less funding.