Island teachers support eliminating MCAS as grad requirement

by Dean Geddes 31 October 2024

Should passing the MCAS standardized test no longer be a requirement to graduating high school?

Massachusetts voters will decide at Tuesday’s election, as Ballot Question 2 proposes axing the MCAS graduation requirement that has been in effect since 1993.

Page Martineau, English teacher at Nantucket High School for the last two decades and president of the Nantucket Teachers’ Association, believes that preparing for a high-stakes standardized test takes away from more effective and practical ways of teaching.

“The MCAS requirement drives instruction and curriculum in a way that we’re spending so much time on an antiquated, unnecessary skill in a world where kids need so many other skills,” she said.

“It takes time out of our instruction. It just does, and that’s a reality. We have to teach to the test. And we’re not getting rid of the test, it’s just not standing as a barrier in the way of kids getting a diploma.”

On Nantucket, it’s also an uphill battle for students who arrive in the United States at high school age, speaking a different language, Martineau said.

“We see how the MCAS exam can be a barrier to the high school diploma for our most vulnerable kids, English language learners, as well as special-needs students,” she said. “For kids coming here who speak a different language, they only have a couple of years to get these really difficult tests and at the same time they’re trying to learn a new language as teenagers. (Question 2) really puts the power back into teachers’ hands and local schools’ hands to determine if a student is ready to graduate.”

Opponents of Question 2 claim there are very few cases (less than 1 percent) in which a student is kept from graduating because of the MCAS requirement. There is the option to take the test multiple times, as well as a waiver process available in certain circumstances.

But Martineau thinks it’s not an easy number to measure, as some students who drop out of school could see the MCAS requirement as another reason to leave.

Those against Question 2, including Gov. Maura Healey and state education secretary Patrick Tutwiler, have said that without the MCAS requirement, Massachusetts would be one of the only states in the country without a universal graduation requirement, which would mean graduation standards could differ across the commonwealth’s 300-plus school districts.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association has come out strongly in support of Question 2. Martineau said that although her union didn’t take a vote, she isn’t aware of any Nantucket teachers who oppose Question 2.

“We are all on board,” she said. “I don’t speak for every teacher but I don’t know of any teacher, who thinks standardized testing is the best way to assess kids. I can’t imagine any who wouldn’t be in support of taking that pressure off our students.”

The current criteria for graduation is that students earn a score of 472 or better on the English MCAS and 486 or higher on the Math MCAS.

For the 2023 10th grade MCAS, Nantucket was above the state averages in English and Math with an average score of 510 in 10th grade English and 501 in 10th grade math. The state averages were 504 and 500, respectively.