School administrators around the North Shore don’t show much enthusiasm for giving students the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests this year, but vow to make sure it runs smoothly.
Jeffrey C. Riley, commissioner of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), released a letter Jan. 5 outlining the details of the MCAS test.
First of all, the tests will be administered, but school districts will receive some accountability relief, in that no schools will be added to the state’s “underperforming” category based on student test performance. Second, the length of testing will be lessened. And third, like last year, graduating seniors can choose not to take the MCAS test as long as they pass the designated core subjects, the letter said.
Students from grades 3-8 will take the test, however.
Still, many school officials in the area are not happy about administering MCAS tests in this environment, especially if they’re just getting back to school on any level.
“I don’t think that students’ first experience back in school should be centered around testing,” said Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, superintendent of schools in Lynn. “I think it should be around learning or around some sort of meaningful social experience.”
Lynn has been under a remote learning system since last spring, and is hoping to have students in the classroom by February.
Pamela Angelakis, superintendent in Swampscott, shares Tutwiler’s view.
“Preparing for the MCAS is a daunting task under normal circumstances, primarily due to the high-stakes nature of the test, especially for high school students,” she said. “The challenges increase exponentially during a pandemic that has now lasted 10 months.”
Although Saugus School Committee Chair Tom Whittredge said the board had yet to discuss the news, he has been vocal about his concerns with MCAS in the past.
“From my point of view, I’m not a fan of the (grades) 3 through 5 testing,” he said. “I think they should come up with a different kind of system for these kids. It’s too much pressure for kids that young.
“It forces the elementary schools to teach for the MCAS rather than the things we all learned growing up,” Whittredge said.
He also worries that being forced to sit through MCAS testing will put too much pressure on the district’s youngest test takers.
“We have to see how this goes. It’s going to be crazy,” Whittredge said. “I think we’re going to get through it, but if we have to take them in person, that’s going to be a big issue because kids are going to be stressed. They’re going to have their masks on. It’s not what they signed up for. I don’t like the idea at all.”
On the other hand, some school administrators are willing to give it a try.
“As a fully ‘in-person’ school, we have 83 percent of our students at school all day, every day, which helps with logistics,” said Kevin Johnson, principal of the Johnson Elementary School in Nahant. “In addition, each student has use of a Chromebook, which can be used for the MCAS.
“Testing remote students is a new challenge,” he said, “but with our low numbers of remote students, it will be done in a reasonable amount of time.”
Others see no problems, as long as the parameters Riley laid out in his letter do not change.
“If the DESE remains true to its stated proposal — modifying the competency determination for the Class of 2021, shortening the testing window for grades 3-8 and providing accountability relief — I support those moves,” said Marblehead Superintendent Dr. John Buckey. “At this time, I am most interested in working with our teachers and families to see how they feel about the possibility of MCAS this spring.”
Lynnfield Superintendent Kristen Vogel points to another potential problem with trying to apply the MCAS tests.
“Unless the public health data looks up in the spring, you won’t be able to have a classroom chock full of kids taking the MCAS, so, yes, the MCAS testing could take much longer to get through,” she said.
Dr. Josh Vadala, Peabody’s superintendent, said he understands Riley’s thinking — that there does need to be some kind of diagnostic tool to see how much learning has been lost this year — but he’s still disappointed at the decision to administer the tests.
“But at the same time, I don’t see how we can have a valid test that accurately portrays how students are progressing with such a fragmented school year,” he said. “For us, we have local data that we can look at and see how our students are learning, and we’ve shared that with all of our benefactors.
“I think it might make more sense to work on things at a local level and not have to take a test where judgments can be made based on the results of that test.”
As a district that’s been fully remote since the end of the last school year, Superintendent Dr. Dianne Kelly and Revere Public Schools are already worried about the effect the past year has had on their students, MCAS testing aside.
“This year, our kids have a lot to worry about to begin with,” Kelly said. “Everything from dealing with social and emotional issues while being out of school. So our focus going into (MCAS) will be to push a strong campaign to the students that the purpose of this test is to see where they are now and how best we can support them going forward.”
In the end, though, said Tutwiler, “I understand that MCAS is anchored in law. And it is not easy to make changes around whether to have it or not.”
And despite reservations, they all vow to carry out the state’s directives.
“Our teachers will do what they always do: provide students with the knowledge base and preparation that will hopefully lead to academic success both on the MCAS and in all their classes,” Angelakis. “It remains to be seen what impact the modifications we have been forced to implement will have on student outcomes on the exam, and speculating on that doesn’t seem productive at this point.”
Mike Alongi, Gayla Cawley, Elyse Carmosino, Dan Kane, Guthrie Scrimgeour, and Anne Marie Tobin of the Item staff and intern Alex Ross contributed to this report.