Voting 'yes' on Question 2 is best for our students

by Kelsey Romano 11 October 2024 

As a special education teacher for 15 years, I’ve seen firsthand what works in the classroom to help students succeed. Fostering brave and cooperative classroom climates, focusing on rigor, collecting and analyzing data, and a dedication to individualized learning are central to our success as educators.

But one thing I’ve also witnessed is how high-stakes testing, particularly the MCAS graduation requirement, often gets in the way of real, authentic and impactful learning.

Make no mistake: Massachusetts will continue to have some of the highest education standards in the country, with or without the MCAS graduation requirement. Those standards are embedded in state law, and nothing about Question 2 changes that. What it does change is how we evaluate our students’ readiness to graduate. Question 2 removes the MCAS as a make-or-break requirement for graduation and instead makes it one of many tools we can use to assess our students.

I’ve seen my students thrive when they’re given opportunities to show what they’ve learned in ways that go beyond bubbling in the right answer on a test. Some students excel through class projects, others through essays, hands-on activities, and active participation and collaboration with their peers. These methods of assessment are far more valid than standardized tests, which at their foundation were a tool of White Supremacy.

The MCAS, by its very nature, can only capture a small piece of the picture. It reduces learning to a set of multiple-choice questions, taken in isolation, often under stressful conditions — especially for English language learners, students with mental health needs and those with learning differences. I’ve watched students — bright, imaginative, hardworking students — struggle with test anxiety knowing that their future rides on this one exam. It’s heartbreaking to see a student who’s excelled in class, completed all their assignments and demonstrated growth throughout the year face the real possibility of not graduating because they didn’t perform well on the MCAS.

The pressure of high-stakes testing is not just felt by the students. As teachers, we’ve often found ourselves having to divert time and energy away from deep learning to focus on test prep. It’s hard to teach critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity when you know your students’ graduation depends on memorizing the right formulas and strategies for a standardized test.

Accountability is important, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of our students’ well-being or our ability to teach them in the ways we know work best. Voting “yes” on Question 2 doesn’t eliminate the MCAS altogether; it simply lowers the stakes. The MCAS would still be part of the picture but alongside other important measures like a student’s GPA, their coursework and teacher recommendations.

This isn’t about lowering standards — it’s about recognizing that students are more than their test scores. The MCAS graduation requirement puts too much power in the hands of a single exam. By voting “yes” on Question 2, we can restore balance to our assessment system and ensure that all students, regardless of their test-taking ability, have a fair shot at graduation.

Let’s stand with students, teachers and families in supporting a more comprehensive and humane approach to education. Vote “yes” on Question 2 to keep our focus on high standards, not high-stakes tests.

Kelsey Romano is a special education teacher at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington and a representative of the Committee for High Standards Not High Stakes.