Christina Saad and Avery Slaughter || ONLINE EDITORS
In November of 2024, a majority of Massachusetts voters decided to remove the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) as a graduation requirement. Question 2 on the ballot was highly debated—should students’ graduation status be based on a test score from their sophomore year? The answer was a resounding no, and it would go on to impact students and their MCAS test scores in the following years.
Previously, 10th graders across the state were required to pass the standardized test to receive their diploma, but now, in the eyes of students, it is essentially useless. Graduation wasn’t the only purpose of MCAS, but to many AHS students, it was the most important one. What do AHS faculty and students think about MCAS now that it is no longer required to graduate?
It is mandated by federal law that every state has some form of standardized testing. In Massachusetts, MCAS and Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) testing both serve that purpose. The MCAS is taken by 3rd to 10th graders and spans two-days, covering subjects in ELA, math, social studies, and science. It compares the academic proficiency of students across the state and provides districts with important data about learning trends and areas of improvement within the classroom.
“I think it is a helpful tool to be able to see where kids are struggling, or where there are more problems so that we can figure out how to teach things better,” said English teacher Erin Crowley.
The only issue? Educators have hypothesized that they are no longer getting an accurate assessment. Students feel no incentive to try on a test when the results have no impact on them, leading to data that does not represent students’ true academic ability, as seen in the 2024 decrease in MCAS scores. (See sidebar.)
Math teacher Krista Hibino explained that, as a result of MCAS being dropped as a graduation requirement, it is more difficult to determine whether students meet the proper graduation criteria. She suggested that this might have been overlooked by voters in 2024, but it is now an issue that is becoming apparent.
Students have affirmed this sentiment. Some did not entirely give up during ELA MCAS this year, but they did put in less effort than they otherwise would have.
“Even last year, for the science [MCAS], I did put in less effort because it doesn’t matter that much. I locked in a bit more this year, but I think I did good,” said sophomore Hadeel Hawat.
Teacher opinions also vary. Some, like Crowley and Hibino, think it can be a useful tool in determining where students need help. Others, like English teacher Jennifer Meagher, thought it ultimately was not helpful, even before it was abolished as a graduation requirement.
“The test sort of forces you, particularly with multiple choice… into this thinking of one specific answer, and in literature, that’s just not generally the case,” said Meagher. “In comprehension, maybe, but not with interpretation. So, it’s not reflective of a student’s ability to really interpret a text in that way because it’s so narrowly focused.”
So, are there other alternatives that would motivate students, provide teachers with valuable insight, and provide the state with the data it needs? The answer is unclear. For example, Meagher expressed discontent with the way MCAS scores are used. MCAS scores are not released to educators until the following academic year. Receiving data on where a previous class struggled is not always helpful as the new class may have different areas to improve upon.
“I think standardized testing in general is flawed. When you look at the history of standardized testing,… it was really meant to filter students,” said Meagher. “So you would identify the high-achieving students and those students had more access to colleges, elite colleges, and the kids who didn’t perform well were not going to have access to that same level of learning and opportunity. I don’t know that that’s changed a whole lot.”
There is one preexisting test that we are all familiar with that mitigates the issue of receiving data from past years: MAP testing. Unlike MCAS, MAP provides test scores during the school year so that teachers may use the scores to influence their instruction.
“[MAP] was a good reflection of what patterns I was seeing… while [my students] were learning,” said Crowley. “It would tell me specifics, like what a student needs to work on. Students also liked to see it and talk about where [they’ve] grown.”
Hibino echoed this sentiment, explaining that MAP allows her to see student growth over the years as opposed to overall results from a previous class.
MCAS is not entirely unhelpful, as students and teachers alike have expressed. It has its purpose in the curriculum and it provides meaningful information to teachers, the district, and the overall state. Still, there is room for improvement, and some think it is redundant to administer two standardized tests, given MAP provides data that is more useful to educators.
