More than a dozen organizations on Wednesday have sent a letter to Massachusetts education officials and to legislators, urging the state to obtain a federal waiver from the U.S. Department of Education and suspend spring Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.
“We agree with business groups and others who oppose using MCAS results for high-stakes and accountability purposes, but we are absolutely convinced that MCAS testing itself should be suspended,” reads the letter. “Standardized tests have never been an equitable measure of student learning, but in a time of pandemic cannot possibly measure student learning with any validity. Testing will only mean that all students will lose precious learning time, while, disproportionally, Black, Latinx, low-income, English learners and special education students will fall even further behind.”
The letter is signed by Lisa Guisbond, the executive director of Citizens for Public Schools, Beth Kontos, the president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, Kimberly N. Parker, the president of the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts, Jessica Tang, the president of the Boston Teachers Union, Vatsady Sivongxay, the executive director of the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, Merrie Najimy, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Jasper Coughlin, the student representative to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), Mary Ann Stewart, the parent representative to the BESE, and other organization leaders.
The organizations claim that at least five states, including Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Montana and New York, have filed or are filing formal ESSA waiver requests with the federal government.
Previously, the state Department of Elementary Education announced the MCAS test would be modified in 2021 because of the pandemic.
The test will be shorter for students in grades 3-8, the competency determination for the class of 2021 will be modified and DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley will not name any new schools or districts as underperforming or chronically underperforming.
Education officials on Wednesday referred MassLive to a memo Riley wrote to superintendents in January, saying that this year’s MCAS would offer insight into academic losses that need to be addressed this spring and summer.
“The sudden shift to remote learning last spring, and the continuation of hybrid/remote learning this school year has likely led to significant learning loss for students around the country. The extent of the learning loss in the Commonwealth is not yet known,” Riley wrote at the time. “The Department continues to believe the MCAS test is a crucial diagnostic tool to promote student success and educational equity and we remain committed to administering the assessment this spring, while recognizing the need for adjustments and flexibility.”
In the letter, the organizations called statements from Riley and others that MCAS is needed this year to diagnose students’ progress during the pandemic ”highly dubious.”
“For an academic test to be valid, a student must have had a reasonable opportunity to learn the material on the test. Given the school closures during the pandemic, the inadequacy and inconsistencies of hybrid learning, and disparate access to Internet and computers at home, not all students will have had a reasonable opportunity to learn the content on the tests,” the letter reads.
The letter did applaud the state’s plan to allow high school seniors who have fulfilled all local graduation requirements but have not passed the ELA or math MCAS exams to graduate based on related coursework. But, the group wants that measure extended to 10th and 11th graders.
“Let teachers and students focus on staying healthy and problem-solving to sustain our education system and not have to worry about test prep,” the letter continued. “Test-related funding that can be re-allocated, that includes the…
Read More: Citizens for Public Schools, other organizations ask Massachusetts education