Question 2 on the November 5 ballot sought to abolish the mandate that high school students must pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) in order to graduate.

The MCAS has been a hotly contested topic for years now, and both proponents and opponents of Question 2 presented a variety of factors to consider. Passage of the ballot question would not change the administration of the test but would lift the requirement and likely some of the pressure associated with it. The shift would take effect immediately for this year’s senior class. 

ANDOVERVIEW went to press prior to Tuesday’s election results being finalized, so this article aims to capture how community members felt about the ballot question in the weeks leading up to this important vote.

Graduating isn’t the issue: according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, about 99% of students pass the exam. So, one of the most important changes to consider in Andover is the effect of the requirement on results.

Alan Hibino teaches a range of courses in the math department from Algebra I to Statistics. He noted the importance of reliable data to help serve students, align curriculum, and ensure material is adequately but not excessively reviewed each year.

“Whether it’s a requirement or not, that data is valuable to… math teachers to help us shape our program of studies here at the high school.” Hibino hoped that “students would continue to take the administration of the MCAS seriously.”

This, however, might not completely be the case.

“I try to do my best, but I know a lot of people don’t,” offered sophomore Mina Kacemi. “If you take away the requirement, I feel like nobody would care at all. I hear a lot of people say that they just don’t try during MAP testing because it doesn’t actually impact them. I think the same thing would happen for MCAS.”

The Massachusetts State Secretary of Education, Patrick Tutwiler, expressed a similar opinion. “High school students will not take it seriously going forward,” he said, “so it won’t be a useful assessment anymore.”

The biggest effect felt by students at AHS is anxiety caused by the exam. Many students have expressed that the MCAS is at least somewhat stressful, perhaps more than it’s worth.

“I’m kind of stressing about the math one already, in the back of my mind,” said Kacemi, who is set to take her math and language arts MCAS tests this spring. 

“I am concerned about [high-stakes testing] in terms of the well-being of our students,” said Hibino.

Many supporters of Question 2 argue that the exams disproportionately affect students from low-income households, English Language Learners (ELLs), those with learning disabilities, and those who may otherwise struggle.

“It’s really difficult to do well in the MCAS due to the language barrier, even though this year I feel more confident,” said one ELL at the high school. He also suggests that doing one’s best does not have to be synonymous with pressure and that a singular test determining a student’s ability to graduate feels unreasonable.

Much of the debate, Hibino added, lies in whether the state truly needs a concrete measure of a student’s abilities. “Ultimately I think MCAS provides a basic standard; the basic ability to do fractions, for example, or to understand context for the English MCAS,” he said. “And I think a lot of these skills happen organically from the classes we take. So, the question is, do we really need a test to definitively prove that?”

“[Another] one of the things that we talk about in our faculty is the ‘vision of the graduate.’ What do we expect of a student that is graduating [from] Andover High? And so if not the MCAS… what [is] part of our vision?” said Hibino.

Tutwiler pointed out that the ballot did “not propose something as a replacement. All it [did was] deconstruct the current system…you’ll just have a local assessment and understanding of how students are doing,” he adds, “and I’m saying that’s not enough.”