Revere Schools Highlight Innovative Student Assessments as District Weighs Future with MCIEA

By Barbara Taormina

At their last meeting of 2025, the School Committee heard a presentation on Revere’s work with MCIEA, the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Educational Assessment. The consortium is an alliance of public school districts and teacher unions which focuses on how student learning and school quality is measured or graded. Rather than standardized tests and typical essays, the consortium promotes performance-based assessments, such as tasks, projects and portfolios that provide students a fuller and more authentic opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. The approach allows students to follow their individual interests and use creative approaches in their work. The organization also looks at different ways to measure school quality.

A.C. Whelan School Principal Rachel Shanley, fifth grade teacher Lindsay Conrad and a fifth grade student described their experiences with MCIEA, which Shanley said began about 10 years ago. “We feel MCIEA is really a way to elevate student voice,” said Shanley, adding that it dovetails with the district’s core goal to promote deeper learning.

Conrad told the committee her students were highly motivated by tasks and projects. They told her they liked the hands-on aspects of projects and wanted to do more this year. Students felt it was the best way to demonstrate their knowledge.

Despite the high marks from Whelan, the executive committee of the Revere Teachers Association voted to withdraw from the consortium, citing the overwhelming workloads already being carried by teachers and a question of inadequate stipends for participating in the meetings.

Committee member Stacey Bronsdon-Rizzo said, after hearing about the great work taking place at the Whelan School, she was saddened to see the district go in another direction.

Committee member Aisha Milbury-Ellis asked Shanley what the district will lose by withdrawing from the MCIEA consortium. Shanley said Revere educators participated in work developing different tasks and projects. She also said the district would lose access to valuable data through the consortium.

School Superintendent Dr. Dianne Kelly said that despite the RTA vote MCIEA work will move forward. “We will be continuing this work,” said Kelly. “We know what good teaching looks like.”

Kelly also reviewed Governor Maura Healey’s recommendation for new high school graduation requirements to replace the MCAS requirement, which voters repealed last year. Healey’s proposed that students be required to complete courses to prepare them for college. They would take exams at the end of courses but passing would not be a graduation requirement. And students would be required to create a portfolio or final project, such as a capstone. Kelly said the MCIEA approach would help prepare seniors if they need to fulfill a portfolio requirement.