OPINION: Standardized testing isn’t helping students, only districts

by Keeva Donoghue and Eve Bamber 15 October 2024

This November, Massachusetts voters will decide whether to keep or change a system that shapes the educational path for thousands of students, as they face a pivotal choice about the future of standardized testing in the state. Namely, an upcoming ballot measure seeks to remove the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System as a requirement for high school graduation. Instead, students would demonstrate mastery of key skills and knowledge through coursework and teacher evaluations. Eliminating the MCAS leaves room for teachers to focus on learning, not testing metrics.

As someone who received an education through Boston Public Schools, my peers and I felt a constant dread when it came to having to take the MCAS. We would spend hours in our school cafeteria over the span of multiple days writing essays, answering multiple-choice questions and completing math problems. Missing class to take this standardized test seemed pointless. Much of the content we could otherwise be learning in class was either pushed back or removed from the course altogether in order to make time either to take the test or to review lessons in order to prepare for taking it.

Math and English classes in Massachusetts are often constructed to prepare students for the MCAS, lessons that could otherwise be spent preparing students for future courses. It’s important to highlight that this form of testing is quite outdated, as we as a society have learned that standardized testing does not necessarily measure intelligence, a concept that has led to the increasing removal of other previously required tests such as the SAT.

Many students and parents have come forward to express their concern over standardized tests as they are often a source of immense stress for students, especially for students with learning disabilities. Even those who prepare well for such a test could possibly be late for school, miss breakfast that day or not sleep well the night before leading them to perform poorly. Even though these students are highly intelligent, that is not reflected in their scores because this test is a measurement of one’s performance within a short amount of time.

Grade point averages are much more efficient at measuring a student’s academic excellence as it is based on a student’s performance over the entire course of their time in high school.

Another important point is that although the MCAS is used by the state in order to understand the educational levels of students, the exam ultimately reflects the effectiveness of the schools themselves. If a large number of students receive either low or failing scores within the same school or district, that reflects the poor education that those students are receiving. Nevertheless, the students are punished for receiving a poor education by not receiving their diplomas.

All this being said, disdain for standardized testing isn’t limited to Massachusetts. In other states such as Texas and California, exams like the STAAR and the CAASPP serve not only as an educational milestone but also as an occasion for alarm. Each of these states has a unique approach to assessing students’ academic proficiency and understanding their systems can shed light on the pros and cons of the MCAS.

In Texas, the standardized testing system is known as the STAAR, State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. STAAR tests students in reading, writing, math, science and social studies. Like MCAS, Texas also requires students to pass certain STAAR exams to graduate. Texas has been an avid supporter of standardized testing, often redirecting substantial resources such as funding and teacher evaluations to test performance.

However, the STAAR test has faced significant backlash from educators, parents and students alike. Critics argue that the tests are too difficult and consume too much classroom time, leaving little room for creativity to flourish in both teaching and learning.

California takes a slightly different approach. The state uses the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress to measure student achievement, but unlike Massachusetts and Texas, passing CAASPP is not a graduation requirement. The test assesses students in grades three through eight and 11 in English and math, but the results are primarily used to evaluate school performance rather than students’ graduation eligibility.

California has been praised for being less stressful on students, as their graduation does not depend on a single test; supporters of CAASPP believe that the state’s emphasis on broader measures of success allows for a more well-rounded educational experience.

Proponents of tests like the MCAS and STAAR argue that requiring students to pass standardized tests ensures they meet a baseline level of proficiency before graduating. Most other times, though, the systems consequently place too much pressure on students, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds who may not perform well on the exams due to a myriad of factors, including language barriers, learning disabilities or lack of resources.

California’s model, however, offers a potential alternative, and serves as a clear example for many Massachusetts voters seeking to vote “YES” on ballot question 2: voting YES on 2 would replace the MCAS as a requirement for high school graduation, instead relying on demonstrated proficiency through schoolwork in the continuous spirit of “high standards, not high stakes.”