MCAS implications: School officials address post-referendum testing

In November, Massachusetts voters eliminated the 10th-grade MCAS test as a graduation requirement, but school officials say some community members still don't fully understand the change's implications.

Wareham Superintendent Matt D’Andrea said “there seems to be some confusion.”

“Some folks believe that MCAS is now gone and that's not the case,” D’Andrea said. “The MCAS is still in place at the same grade levels in the same subject areas that has been the case for the last several years. The only difference is, that in 10th-grade, they no longer need to pass to graduate.”

In short, D’Andrea said, MCAS testing in Wareham is the same as it's always been. Students must still take each MCAS exam and will still be required to meet all other existing graduation requirements to receive a diploma.

Massachusetts instituted the MCAS, which stands for Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, in 1993, as a standardized test to evaluate students ability in English language arts, mathematics and science.

Since its establishment, Wareham students grade 3 through 10 have taken the MCAS and up until this year, had to pass the 10th-grade science exam to receive a diploma.

However, the MCAS test is not only a student evaluation, but also a key metric the school district uses for self-evaluation, so officials need students to perform their best for the data to be accurate.

“It's possible that the fallout from that vote will result in students and community members no longer putting emphasis on the test and we may not get the effort that we need,” D’Andrea said. “We need them to try as hard as they can on the test because then we really get an accurate measurement of what they know and what they can do.”

The school district uses MCAS scores to drive decision making on curriculum and student instruction and Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino said the data collected from the test is “very important.”

Palladino said he remembered the rollout of MCAS in the 1990s and that teachers and staff encountered issues with student motivation and apprehension about the new form of standardized testing.

However, Palladino said he doesn’t expect to face the same problems again even though the 10th-grade exam is no longer required to graduate.

“These kids are programmed, they've been doing it every year since third grade for the most part,” Palladino said. “It’s common practice at this point.”

He also noted that the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, which provides some tuition money for state schools to students who perform well on the MCAS, would still serve as a motivating factor for test-takers.

Palladino did find a silver lining in repealing the 10th-grade science exam as a graduation requirement, noting that students with learning disabilities who may have struggled with the MCAS no longer face the "high-stakes" pressure of the test.

Additionally, he said its repeal could reduce drop-out rates.

“What percentage of kids may have dropped out because from 7th-grade on they haven't passed the MCAS?” Palladino said. “What’s the potential of keeping those kids in now and giving them the opportunity to get a high school diploma?”

D’Andrea said the Wareham school district has the ability to reinstate the 10th-grade MCAS test as a graduation requirement independent from the state, but there are no plans to do so at this time.

School officials will discuss in January how to best proceed with the new regulations.

“I promise you one thing: we're going to spend a lot of time making sure everyone's educated, parents and students, on what they need to know,” Palladino said.