To graduate high school, Massachusetts public school students must pass their 10th grade MCAS exam.

There are other requirements too, typically set by school districts: Students must meet their district’s course requirements, attend school regularly and pass their classes. But without a passing MCAS score or an alternative equivalent, they won’t get their diplomas.

Though MCAS scores have fallen since the start of the COVID pandemic, the majority of high schoolers pass the test on their first try. But a large teachers’ union has been campaigning to do away with the test as a graduation requirement.

This November, Ballot Question 2 will ask voters whether students should be able to graduate high school without passing the MCAS. GBH’s Morning Edition host Paris Alston spoke to campaigns on both sides of the issue.

What would this ballot question do?

The standardized test, formally known as the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, measure students’ knowledge in English, math, and science.

If more than half of voters approve of Question 2, high school students will still have to take the MCAS — but won’t need a passing grade to graduate.

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Instead, schools will determine whether students can graduate based on their grades, class credits and attendance.

Question 2 could also have implications for adults who never got their high school diplomas: The ballot measure would allow former Massachusetts students who met every graduation requirement except a passing MCAS score to request a high school diploma.

If voters reject the ballot measure, high school graduation requirements will stay as they are now.

What’s the argument in favor of a ‘yes’ vote on Question 2?

Paris Alston: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. The Massachusetts Teachers Association is asking voters to do away with the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement. If ballot Question 2 passes, 10th graders will still have to take the standardized test, but they’ll be able to graduate without a passing grade. MTA Vice President Deb McCarthy is with the Yes on Two campaign and she joins us now. Deb, good morning. Thanks for being here.

Deb McCarthy: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Alston: You are pushing for a yes vote on this, which would get rid of the test as a graduation requirement. Why is that necessary?

McCarthy: So I was a fifth grade educator for 25 years, and I believe that it is critical to eliminate this one-time event so that students are allowed to get a diploma based upon their academic performance in grades nine through 12.

Alston: Now, right now, about 90% of Massachusetts high schoolers can pass the MCAS on their first try, and almost 96% of them can pass the test or fulfill an alternative requirement beyond that. So some are saying that this helps catch that small percentage of those who may be falling through the cracks and not meeting those marks, and then therefore give them the extra support that they need. What do you say to that argument?

McCarthy: I disagree. I feel that this is systemic, that it is repetitive, the harm that is being placed upon certain learning styles, in particular students on an IEP, students who are English language learners and students who are dyslexic. And while some talk about it as a percentile, for me as an educator, each one of those students represents a life story that is changed dramatically when their education is reduced to the passage of a one-time test.

Alston: What do you think would be a better measurement of their performance?

McCarthy: The holistic assessments, teacher evaluations, class performances. I really respect the data that comes from conformance assessment tests. It allows all learning styles to meet the standards of the rubric in place.

Alston: And take us inside the classrooms where prep for this test is happening, as is. How much classroom time do teachers usually spend doing that?

McCarthy: A considerable amount of time. And I think it’s an important part of this conversation. There is a big difference between understanding the content and the skill set necessary when taking this high-stakes test. Tests are designed, deliberately, to include the next-best answer for some of our learners. They miss that word 'not.’ They understand the content, but they may not notice that the answer is underneath a picture. They may know the content --- some of my strongest science and math students were not necessarily the strongest writers, and they were being scored on their ability to write a scripted paragraph rather than their natural mathematical ability in the classroom.

Alston: What do you say to parents who feel the MCAS is a measure for them as well, to know where their student is in their learning?

McCarthy: So I am the proud parent of four, grandmother to nine, and when I needed to know how my students were doing or when I asked my children how their children are doing. It is not the MCAS score that we look at. Remember, colleges don’t even ask for the score. That data is given to educators months after the student has left their classroom.

Alston: So, of course, this would still keep the MCAS in place. It would no longer make it a graduation requirement. But in the grand scheme of things, Deb, if there is no longer a statewide standard for graduation, how will the state make sure some districts aren’t lowering their standards to boost those graduation rates?

McCarthy: So one, the standards aren’t going anywhere, right? The standards are mandated. We have standard-based report cards. Your educators are evaluated by the standards. As an educator, you have to select our standards for your evaluation, where you have to provide the data based upon the year’s worth of in-classroom assessments showing the growth, right? We purchase online curriculum aligned to the standards. So the standards aren’t going anywhere. The MCAS will be there, so that the accountability system is still in place. What this does is it allows learners to get a diploma based upon their performance grades 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Alston: Well, that is MTA Vice President Deb McCarthy, who is pushing for a yes vote on ballot question two this November. Deb, thank you so much.

McCarthy: Thank you.

Alston: We’ll be covering all five ballot questions that Massachusetts voters will be deciding this election on Morning Edition. To learn more about each and all things Election 2024, you can head to our Web site, GBH news.org. And coming up in October, both sides of each question will debate the issues at hand on Boston Public Radio. Stay tuned to GBH 89.7 and GBHnews.org for more info. Coming up on Morning Edition, we’ll get a little growing wisdom from meteorologist Dave Epstein, this time talking about hurricanes. You’re listening to GBH News.

Deb McCarthy on Morning Edition | Sept. 24, 2024

The Massachusetts Teachers Association, a union that represents about 117,000 educators, has been behind the Yes on 2 campaign.

“I was a fifth-grade educator for 25 years, and I believe that it is critical to eliminate this one-time event so that students are allowed to get a diploma based upon their academic performance in grades nine through 12,” said Deb McCarthy, the MTA’s vice president.

Standardized tests are not always the best measure of how much students know, she said, especially for students with individualized education needs, students who don’t speak English as a first language, or students with learning disabilities.

“There is a big difference between understanding the content and the skill set necessary when taking this high-stakes test,” she said. “They may know the content — some of my strongest science and math students were not necessarily the strongest writers, and they were being scored on their ability to write a scripted paragraph rather than their natural mathematical ability in the classroom.”

Teachers have to devote significant time to test prep, she said.

“I feel that this is systemic, that it is repetitive, the harm that is being placed upon certain learning styles,” McCarthy said. “For me as an educator, each one of those students represents a life story that is changed dramatically when their education is reduced to the passage of a one-time test.”

Instead, McCarthy said, no longer relying on the MCAS may allow schools to measure students based on “holistic assessments, teacher evaluations, class performances.”

“It allows all learning styles to meet the standards of the rubric in place,” she said.

And standardized tests “aren’t going anywhere,” McCarthy said.

“The standards are mandated,” she said. “The MCAS will be there, so that the accountability system is still in place. What this does is it allows learners to get a diploma based upon their performance grades 9, 10, 11 and 12.”

Why opponents are urging a ‘no’ vote on Question 2

Paris Alston: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. Every year, high school sophomores take the MCAS test. The state uses their scores to measure their school’s performance and determine whether students can graduate. This November, voters will decide whether to keep the test as a graduation requirement on ballot question two. It comes as the latest scores, released this week, show students are falling further behind post-pandemic. Overall scores improved in third grade math and fifth and 10th grade science. But English language arts achievement is down across all grades. Keri Rodrigues is a public school parent who is the founder and head of the National Parents Union, and is with the No on Question two campaign. She’s joining us now to discuss the no vote. Keri, thanks for being here.

Keri Rodrigues: Thanks for having me.

Alston: So what would a no vote do here?

Rodrigues: A vote for no on question two would basically keep the MCAS as a graduation requirement, because what the MCAS does is actually demonstrate that our kids are proficient in things like math and reading and science, and that we’ve done our job in our high schools across the state to adequately prepare them for college, career, the trades, you know, anything that they want to do in the future. But it will not eliminate the MCAS. Voting yes on this ballot question doesn’t mean the MCAS goes away. It is a federal requirement that kids take this test in order for us to determine whether or not our schools are adequately performing for our communities.

Alston: And why do you want it to stay in place? I mean, do you think that this is the best way to determine whether a student should graduate?

Rodrigues: I think it’s incredibly important to do more than just give my children a certificate of attendance, saying that they have shown up in school every single day for 12 years. What that high school diploma has to mean is that they are proficient, that they are prepared, that we have kept our promise that if we have them in school and they are doing their best and they’re able to pass MCAS, that they are ready to go on to the future. And for kids like mine, this is tremendously important. I have an 11th grader who just last year passed the 10th grade MCAS exam and will get a full high school diploma. And that is really important to him because he is a kid who has had an IEP for his entire educational career, and he is a kid who attends a therapeutic high school in Stoneham, the SEEM Collaborative. And for kids like mine, it is incredibly important that we don’t just pass them along through the system, but we actually give them a foundation so that they can successfully go on to the next steps in life.

Alston: Now, I imagine that did not come without a lot of hard work and preparation for your son. Was that stressful for him at all? I mean, generally, how do your kids feel about the time that it takes to be ready to pass the MCAS?

Rodrigues: Well, honestly, it depends on the conversation that you are having with kids. You know, in our house, you know, we talk about MCAS as being kind of like a thermometer that you use to determine, you know, your educational health. If I, every time I brought my kids to the pediatrician, I said to them, you know, well, that they’re going to take your temperature. And, you know, if it shows that you have a fever and you need some help and you need some medicine and we need to get you better. Man, it’s going to be terrible and your life is going to be over. Of course, they would be terrified of the thermometer. It’s the same with MCAS. You know, it’s not parents and families who are turning to their kids saying, 'you better pass this test or otherwise you’re going to be in really big trouble.’ This is data and information that we need to have as parents and families and frankly, communities to figure out what kids need additional resources, what schools need additional resources. So this is incredibly important information.

Alston: Now, speaking of educators, Keri, the Massachusetts Teachers Association is backing the yes vote on this question, which, of course, would replace the MCAS graduation requirement. Why not trust their opinion if they’re the ones who are educating the students?

Rodrigues: Well, while we deeply respect educators and some of their opinions on this --- because I would argue that the Massachusetts Teachers Association does not represent the opinion of many educators that I’ve been in conversation with. Frankly, I’m married to an educator who feels that the MCAS is incredibly valuable for him to be able to assess, you know, how his kids are doing and give him information about how he needs to change and evolve his teaching practice. So I don’t think that the Massachusetts Teachers Association necessarily represents the view of all educators on getting rid of MCAS or removing it as as a graduation requirement because they’ll still be required, again, to take that MCAS exam regardless of this ballot question.

Alston: Now, one reason that the MTA is backing the Yes vote is because it says that standardized testing can put students who are not good test takers at a disadvantage. We know that test anxiety is real. So if they are going to have to do this, if this is going to continue to be a graduation requirement, what can the state do to better support those students?

Rodrigues: I think overall it’s the attitude that we take on MCAS. If you are going into a classroom every day and you’re scaring your students into fearing some kind of crazy penalty, that you’re going to be locked up in jail if you don’t pass MCAS, There’s going to be some some horrible outcome if you’re not, quote unquote successful on taking the MCAS. Yeah, of course kids are going to be anxious and scared.

Alston: Well, that is Keri Rodrigues, who is the head of the National Parents Union, pushing for a no vote on ballot question to this November. Keri, thank you so much.

Rodrigues: Thanks for having me.

Alston: You’re listening to GBH News.

 

Keri Rodrigues on Morning Edition | Sept. 25, 2024

Keri Rodrigues, founder and head of the National Parents Union, said keeping the MCAS as a graduation requirement helps ensure Massachusetts students are held to high standards.

“I think it’s incredibly important to do more than just give my children a certificate of attendance, saying that they have shown up in school every single day for 12 years,” Rodrigues said. “What that high school diploma has to mean is that they are proficient, that they are prepared, that we have kept our promise that if we have them in school and they are doing their best and they’re able to pass MCAS, that they are ready to go on to the future.”

Her own son, now an 11th grader at SEEM Collaborative in Stoneham, took the MCAS last year, she said.

“He is a kid who has had an IEP for his entire educational career,” she said. “And for kids like mine, it is incredibly important that we don’t just pass them along through the system, but we actually give them a foundation so that they can successfully go on to the next steps in life.”

She suggested viewing the test as a measure of students’ educational health.

“This is data and information that we need to have as parents and families and frankly, communities to figure out what kids need additional resources, what schools need additional resources. So this is incredibly important information,” Rodrigues said.

If students are anxious about the high stakes of the test, Rodrigues said, it may be a sign that their teachers and families need to change the way they talk about it.

“If you are going into a classroom every day and you’re scaring your students into fearing some kind of crazy penalty … Yeah, of course kids are going to be anxious and scared,” she said.