Massachusetts for the first time in at least eight years has a governor who may be more amenable to the idea of changes to the MCAS:
Top Democrats are leaving the door open to reassessing the role of Massachusetts' long-controversial standardized testing system as some education advocates reinvigorate calls to abolish the tests or remove the requirement that high school seniors pass it in order to receive a diploma.
Though she did not go as far as saying the state should get rid of the test, Senate President Karen Spilka said on WCVB's"On the Record" program on Sunday that she was open to alternatives to high-stakes MCAS testing for some students. Gov. Maura Healey was endorsed by the MTA in her campaign, and her education platform includes support for the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment, a partnership of eight public school districts exploring new accountability systems that aren't reliant on just the MCAS.
"We don't teach science, and we don't teach ELA and we don't teach math at the elementary level, what we teach is test taking skills," said MTA vice president and former fifth grade teacher Deb McCarthy in December. In Louisiana, which had an exit exam in 2019, 80 percent of all students earned a diploma but only 41 percent of English learners graduated. When the state waived the testing requirement the next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the graduation rate for English learners increased from 41 percent to 48 percent, according to FairTest.
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