My union is wisely pushing for the state to cancel this year MCAS testing. You can call Commissioner Riley and your state legislators to make sure this happens.
For those who do not know, the MCAS is a standardized test given every year to test student achievement in the areas of Math, Science (Biology), and English. Students take the Bio exam their freshmen year and Math and English their sophomore year. Every student is required to pass this exam in order to graduate from a public secondary school in Massachusetts. Regardless of learning disabilities/accommodations/or English learner status.
Leaving aside the debate about the wisdom and high stakes of these exams in the first place, there is simply no way they can be equitably held this year. Districts began closing in early March in a patchwork, some districts like Everett closed for six weeks (prescient in hindsight) others like mine initially closed for two while others like Boston did not close at all until the Gov. Baker ordered a six week closure through April 6th. This closure was extended to May 4th.
Even if we get back in school on May 4th (I’m in the rest of the year will cancelled camp), it is not nearly enough time to catch the students up. Remote learning has had at best a 50% success rate, not just here, but from around the country. Most schools are not one to one with technology and neither are most districts, high need districts like mine they are have had difficulty ensuring every single student has an active device. Undocumented families do not want to interact with any level of government (wonder why) and many families are facing existential questions of eviction, homelessness, and hunger and have understandably not prioritized education during this time.
Regardless of your feelings on the exam, there is no way we can fairly test this year. Call Commissioner Riley and your state legislator to cancel. It’s the reality based fair thing to do.
I assumed this had already been done for this year. Some of the elementary exams take place in April when school will still be closed. I do hope we can go back for a bit (not completely unobjectively since I’d like the paycheck), but I can’t see people being ready either academically or psychologically. Plus the only round of MCAS that actually matters is the one to qualify for high school graduation which is given two years early anyway. This year’s 10th graders can easily take them next year.
Exactly. I think we just have to recognize that we only got in 3/5’s of the year. It’s more important for teachers and admin to keep up with their students on safety and to do their best to teach new stuff, but the idea we would have the same response rate or level of engagement is ludicrous. I do not see them opening myself, but if they do there will be so much more to do to recover the rest of the year that testing is ridiculous.
You should be eligible for unemployment, no? The stimulus by itself won’t be enough to help you out, so let me know if you need any assistance and I’ll see what resources I can access for you. I know our union is doing a kickstarter for families impact and that includes some RPS employees.
I believe I can start requesting UI this week but need to make sure I do it correctly. At least in my district subs aren’t covered by a union, and even that paycheck is still more than UI.
I just saw an item that seems to indicate that federal action is also required to waive MCAS for this year. Do you have any idea why that would be?
Here’s a helpful Globe article:
Trump allowed states to apply to waive that requirement which Gov. Baker already applied for. The issue is the state law mandates yearly testing and the graduation requirement and it will require a state legislative act to remedy, unless the Commissioner feels empowered to cancel it.
It looks like this has now been done, federal waiver and all.