School Committee votes in support of eliminating MCAS testing

By Neil Zolot

EVERETT – The School Committee expressed unanimous support for November ballot Question 2 to eliminate the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test (MCAS) as a requirement to graduate from high school in a vote in their meeting Monday, October 7. “I hate to see a student not graduate because of MCAS,” Mayor Carlo DeMaria said. “One of the requirements for jobs we post requires a High School diploma and if MCAS is preventing people from getting a job, maybe we should replace it. If you’re preventing someone from getting a diploma, but they’re passing the regular curriculum, shouldn’t that be enough to graduate High School? I think it is.”

“I graduated with the first class that required MCAS,” Member At-Large Kristin Bairos said. “The pressure of a special test takes away from learning life skills.”

Much of the discussion centered around MCAS’ cultural bias, partly because it was written in 1993. “The whole thing needs to be revamped,” Member At-Large and Vice Chairperson Samantha Hurley said. “It’s not for everyone. It was created years ago and is not for our students today.”

“The test is geared to a subset of students that’s not our population,” Chairperson and Ward 3 Member Jeanne Cristiano agreed. (She was participating remotely, leaving Hurley to conduct the meeting in the High School library.)

“It’s not a fair test,” Ward 1 Member Margaret Cornelio added. “It’s not designed for all demographics. If you’re foreign, you won’t know some things on the test.”

She also said that as a paraprofessional in the school system she saw “the trauma it caused across all grades. Some people don’t test well and were uptight about it.”

“I believe we should not have MCAS as a graduation requirement,” Ward 5 Member Marcony Almeida-Barros said. “It hasn’t been revised and doesn’t reflect Everett students. It’s not a test for English as a Learned Language students.”

Councillor-at-Large Katy Rogers released a statement agreeing with the School Committee. “I’m voting yes on Question 2 because I believe it is time to end MCAS requirements entirely,” it reads. “MCAS puts immense pressure on students and teachers alike at the cost of creativity, critical thinking and a passion for learning. Massachusetts prides itself on having some of the best public schools in the country, but when it comes to MCAS, quality education is restricted when standardized testing becomes the focal point in the classroom.”

Passage of Question 2 will not eliminate the test, just its requirement as for graduation. “Students will still be tested,” Hurley noted, clearing up a common misconception.

If passing MCAS is no longer a requirement for graduation, school systems might alter the custom of teaching to the test, at least to some degree. How much would probably vary by community and could decrease the level of MCAS results and its value as an analytical tool.

The argument against passage, as written in the Information for Voters mailing on the ballot questions from the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office, is, “It would remove our only statewide graduation standard. It’s not fair to grant diplomas to students who aren’t ready to graduate. Some districts will just adopt lower standards so students graduate even if they haven’t learned the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.”

It also reads, “Massachusetts would have less rigorous graduation requirements than Mississippi and Alabama,” but does not note that Massachusetts is only one of nine states with MCAS or a similar test. That fact was mentioned by Everett resident and Malden English as a Learned Language teacher Jessica Boots in Public Comment at the outset of the meeting.

“Some schools teach to the test because they want their scores to be high, but are you really teaching the whole child?” School Superintendent William Hart asked rhetorically. “What are you giving up? The argument is if it’s a useful tool to determine a person’s ability to move beyond high school. Standardized testing doesn’t necessarily measure a student’s ability to succeed, but it’s the law so we follow it.”

Nevertheless, he feels “it is a good tool to measure where students are” – and without having to teach to the test “if a curriculum is strong and teaching methodology supports it, hopefully, outcomes will be strong.”

Eliminating it as a graduation requirement could help Everett students. Hart said it could keep kids in school who may otherwise drop out because they don’t think they could pass the test.

“The answer I don’t have is if we should replace the test,” Almeida-Barros said. ”Some sort of test will be required, but not the same test. I believe if Question 2 passes or not, we need a revamp of MCAS. It can’t continue to be the same test.”

“I stand with a yes vote to get rid of it, but wonder what will take its place,” Bairos added. She also reported that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees has not taken a stance on Question 2, but is in favor of amending the test regardless of the outcome of the vote.

“We need something,” Cristiano offered. “We get a lot of aid and need metrics to measure how well that money is spent.”

The Committee’s discussion and vote was preceded by remarks in Public Comment by Boots, class of 2023 Everett High graduate Thalia Patino Molano and current High School senior Mayra Gutierrez.

“Yes on 2 seeks to rectify savage inequity in education,” Boots said. “Academic English takes five to seven years to learn, and our students come from diverse backgrounds with different abilities one test can’t measure. It affects students of color, handicapped students and other marginalized students disproportionately.”

She also feels teaching to the test is “limiting the exploration of diverse subjects that provide a well-rounded education. MCAS can be one data point. We need to come together to determine what indicates the actual way students can show their ability.”

In her remarks, Ward 2 Member Joanna Garren noted that the Malden School Committee has also endorsed eliminating MCAS as a graduation requirement.

Patino Molano said that despite the high MCAS score she received, “It was not worth the tears and sweat I spent to prepare for the test. Students should not just be test scores.”

She also echoed sentiments that the test is culturally biased. “Meritocracy in the educational system is flawed,” she said. “The test is not made for Everett students and is unfair to children coming to this country who may have limited resources. It uses phrases only Americans would know and is not relatable to students still learning English. It would need translation and material taught for the test translated into those languages.”

Guterriez expressed similar opinions in Spanish in Public Comment.