Wanjiru Waweru, Jadetimes Staff
W. Waweru is a Jadetimes news reporter covering America News
In my previous article,“ MCAS is Officially No Longer Requirement to Graduate High School“, MCAS is a stress relief for students and teachers to eliminate it for flexibility and a better learning environment. They prefer more standards than high-stakes exams, especially for students who face challenges in their personal lives. They considered what is suitable for students and their well-being to increase their social-emotional skills.
According to Rhode Island Current, “Of the roughly 65,000 high school seniors each year in the state, only about 1 percent, or about 700 students, fail to graduate because of MCAS after meeting all other district requirements. About 85 percent of those students are English learners or students with disabilities.”
According to WBUR, “Some educators say the standardized testing exams lead teachers to ‘teach to the test’ instead of educating students on what they believe to be the best curriculum, as well as social emotional skills.”
Over the years, the circumstances of students who did not pass the MCAS may have had a chance to increase to dropping out of High School.
According to Citizen For Public Schools, “when both 11th grade and 12th students from 2015 to 2019 are considered together, the odds of dropping out were 17 times greater in the group of the students that had failed the high school MCAS compared to the group who had passed the exams.”
Eliminating the MCAS requirement, however, does not sit well with the Former State Secretary of Education, Paul Reville where it rubbed him the wrong way. He found this decision rigid, which would make the standards even lower.
According to the Boston Globe, “The former state secretary of education, Paul Reville, seems to think that without the MCAS requirement, our standards will plummet from their nationally recognized rigor. His apparent lack of awareness of the current classroom is shameful.”
The question is “How can I prepare this child to be successful in the real world?” The consequences is “the elimination of the MCAS graduation requirement takes away restraints that have held back some of our best and most rigorous teaching practices.”
History of MCAS
The Acronym of MCAS stands for Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System which is an important role of standardized tests that Students in Massachusetts:
Grades 3 – 8 and 10: Students mandate the test in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics
Grades 5, 8, and 9: Students mandate the test in Science & Technology
According to WBUR, “Lawmakers created the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) system in a 1993 education reform law that was aimed at improving accountability and school performance. The first tests were given in 1998, and students have been required to achieve sufficient scores to graduate since the class of 2003.”
Life After MCAS Requirement
Many voters who marked “Yes” on the Question No. 2 Ballot to eliminate MCAS as a high school graduation requirement, each school district would classify the important role of students completing the requirements to earn a High School Diploma.
Many people reacted to eliminating MCAS in a different perspective. Some people think it is a stress-relief, and may consider flexible learning for students and teachers, while others, were disappointed and concerned about the students’ future for the preparation of the real world.
