2024 MCAS scores show Massachusetts students struggling to recover from pandemic disruptions, but testing critics say the results are suspect

by Josh Landes 26 September 2024

New standardized test scores show students in Massachusetts are still recovering from learning losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — but critics say those results are hiding a more complicated reality.

Rob Curtin of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shared the most recent batch of Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System – or MCAS – scores on a virtual press conference this week, starting with English Language Arts.

“First in ELA, the results show that we had lower achievement in all grades as compared to 2023," he said. "Differently, in math, the results showed improved achievement in third grade amongst relatively flat results in most grades. And lastly, in science, the data shows that there was improved achievement in grades 5 and 10 with lower achievement in grade 8.”

Data from the almost half million students who took the MCAS indicates that in some areas, Massachusetts has not recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that deeply impacted education when schooling went remote. Curtin pointed to ELA results as an example.

“For grade 3, for example, you'll see all the percentages at the different achievement levels for 2024, culminating in 42% of grade 3 students in 2024 meeting or exceeding expectations," said Curtin. "This is a change of two percentage points down from 2023 where the number was 44% of students meeting or exceeding expectations, and a change of 14 percentage points down from 2019 when when the number was 56% of students meeting or exceeding expectations.”

He then turned to math.

“For grade 10, 48% of students meeting or exceeding expectations on the 10th grade math test," Curtin said. "This is down to percentage points from 2023 and again, 11 percentage points from where we were pre-pandemic in 2019.”

Critics of the test are rallying around Question 2 on the Massachusetts ballot this November. If approved by voters, the MCAS will be removed as a requirement for high school graduation. Standardized testing would still be required under federal law.

Teachers unions contend MCAS results are a poor measure of scholastic achievement that present false equivalencies between communities.

“So, for example, looking at Pittsfield, right? You could look at the scores there and say, oh, well, overall, the students in Pittsfield aren't doing as well as the rest of the students statewide when it comes to different grade levels and subjects, et cetera, right? But then you look at the breakdown of the student population in Pittsfield- We're not comparing apples to apples here, right?" said Jessica Tang, the president of the Massachusetts branch of the American Federation of Teachers labor union. “For example, in Pittsfield, the percentage of high needs students is 72%. The statewide average is 55%. The percentage of low-income students is 66%. The statewide average is 42%. And so, this breaks down when you're looking at students with special needs or English language learners, and so again, it's not telling the whole story, and students could be making a lot of progress, especially like English language learners, but it's not reflected in the MCAS scores, because we already know as educators, it takes, oftentimes five to seven years to become proficient in a new language, right? So, you're not going to score as well as someone who's already been speaking English fluently their whole life.”

While success or failure in testing is often attributed to teachers and students, Tang says overreliance on test scores also obfuscates the real culprit — disproportionate funding gaps in the Massachusetts school system.

“Unfortunately, we're also in a situation right now where the state's Chapter 70 school funding formula has a cap on the 4.5% inflation cap, and that doesn't reflect the reality of what our schools have been facing," she told WAMC. "So, for example, in the last two more recent fiscal years, we saw inflation at 7% to 8%, and so that means districts have to spend more and have shortfalls as the result of the state aid. So, for example, in Springfield, $28 million was the gap that we're seeing. In Pittsfield it’s $4.8 million, and that funding has an impact on our class sizes, on the number of educators that we have to serve all of our students, whether they be special education students or multilingual learners, or we know that a lot of our low-income students have more needs. And so, if we have less educators and higher class sizes, for example, and less funding for schools, that's obviously going to have an impact on our students learning and ability to achieve.”

Kelsey Romano is a teacher at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington with 15 years of experience in public education.

“I come at this work from the lens of social justice, and standardized testing is one of the banes of my existence," she told WAMC. "It does not show anything about a student's ability, strength, skills. What it does show is what zip code they're from, what type of wealth they have, and generally, what their race is.”

She says tests like the MCAS are archaic, cause distress for a student population already struggling with mental health, and a waste of valuable class time.

“One of my students last year during the biology MCAS test, which is their first one, they had moved to our school district from a private school," said the teacher. "His first question when looking at the test was, who's making money off this? And I said, that's a great question, because that's really what it's about. This testing industry is a huge money-making industry, and it is not helpful to students or teachers.”

Romano dreams of a public education system unshackled from standardized testing and focused on preparing students for the real world.

“The way public education is made to crank out factory workers- That's not real life anymore," she told WAMC. "Right now, I'm working at a CTVE school, so a lot of our students are studying woodworking and auto and pre-K, and they are able to be successful and have rich lives and be like amazing members of society without proving that through an exam.”

Massachusetts voters will decide on Question 2 on November 5th. Opponents include Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat whose administration favors keeping the statewide assessment standard.