Opinion: Massachusetts students don’t need MCAS

by Cynthia Roy and Shelley Scruggs 1 July 2024

It has been nearly a year since parents and educators came together to replace the punitive MCAS high school graduation requirement with a more authentic and fair way to determine whether a student has rightfully earned a diploma.

Hundreds of supporters of this idea gathered 170,000 signatures, well beyond the number (87,500) needed to place the issue on the November ballot. Through that process, many of us have had conversations with people who shared heartbreaking stories about how standardized testing crushed their children’s love of learning or seriously damaged their own school experiences and post-high school opportunities.

The ballot question does not remove MCAS as a diagnostic tool but replaces the graduation requirement with school district certification that the student has completed coursework that satisfies state academic standards in English, math, science, and technology. The exams will remain to provide the snapshot of data they currently capture on student progress.

As a parent of a hard-working student who does not do well on tests and an educator who has seen the corrosive effects of high-stakes standardized testing in our public schools, we believe replacing the MCAS graduation requirement will benefit our students, our schools, our educators, and the future of our economy and our communities.

That’s because the proposed ballot question fundamentally asks: What kind of public school experience do voters want for the children of Massachusetts and how should the state’s schools effectively prepare students for post-high school educational and career opportunities?

The answer is clear: We want schools that recognize the diversity of learners; encourage students to be curious and creative; foster community and collaboration; reward good attendance and a committed effort to learn; and most important prepare students for success at every stage of their lives.

Boiling down the requirement for a high school diploma to one standardized test is educational malpractice. A one-size-fits-all approach to assessment fails to capture the breadth and depth of the ways students can meet the state’s high academic standards.

Currently, standardized assessments are skewed toward students who are college bound or focused on a set of white-collar professions. This sends a message to other kids and special learners that their accomplishments are of lesser value. More serious, the threat of not earning a diploma haunts some students’ entire high school career, forcing them into a rigid protocol focused on generating a passing test grade versus finding ways to open creative pathways to learning. And for the hundreds of students who each year are denied a diploma even after completing their high school programs, and countless others who give up on the MCAS and drop out, their post-high school opportunities are jeopardized, including their long-term earning potential.

Massachusetts developed best-in-the-nation academic standards during the same overhaul of our public schools about 30 years ago that led to more equitable state funding for districts and introduced the MCAS exams.

It was five years later when MCAS went from being a diagnostic tool to a high-stakes exam that could jeopardize a student’s future. And that shift created a ripple through every grade level, affecting what was taught, how it was taught, and how students needed to demonstrate that they understood what was being taught.

Creating the MCAS graduation requirement was akin to shrinking the horizon for some students.

One purpose of MCAS was allegedly to close various achievement gaps between students based on race and income. Yet those gaps remain, and with the graduation requirement disproportionately harming students with disabilities, English learners, and low-income students of color, MCAS is reinforcing and perpetuating societal inequities in our public schools.

Massachusetts — one of only eight states that still use a standardized test as a graduation requirement — should stop pouring money and faith into a system that is not accomplishing what we need or want.

The ballot question does not remove MCAS as a diagnostic tool — only as a graduation requirement — and the exams will remain to provide the snapshot of data they currently capture.

Authentic learning and assessing is already happening in a handful of districts working with the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment. It’s also happening at technical vocational schools. Seniors at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School, for example, engage in a capstone project. With these projects, students write a research paper, develop a product, and defend it to a panel of educators and community stakeholders, including industry experts. Every essential skill that we want a student to have upon graduating high school is assessed through this experience. It enables students to bring their full selves to their work and share their true brilliance.

The standards must remain and, per the ballot question, every district will need to certify that a student has successfully completed coursework aligned with the standards.

We should not be tricked into believing that replacing the MCAS high school graduation requirement will lead to an educational Armageddon in Massachusetts schools. On the contrary, after 27 years, public school educators would finally be free to replace the countless hours spent preparing students for the MCAS with many more hours of creative, innovative, and rewarding learning experiences.

Lamenting the elimination of the MCAS high school graduation requirement unfairly reinforces the idea that some students’ educational paths and accomplishments are not worthy, and that many educators cannot be trusted to prepare these young people for life after high school.

The punitive aspects of MCAS are not what we need to inspire, motivate, or prepare students to become their best. Fortunately, Massachusetts does have what students need: high academic standards, more equitable funding for districts, and highly skilled, well-trained educators ready to bring our children to their full potential.

Cynthia Roy teaches science at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School. Shelley Scruggs is the parent of a student at Minuteman Regional Vocational High School.