Dear Neighbor,
Last year, many of us worked and voted to pass Question 2, which passed 59-41%. It eliminated the requirement that students pass MCAS exams to get their high school diplomas. I wrote about why I supported Question 2 here, with lots of evidence of how standardized tests don't help, and can harm students.
In January, Gov. Healey, who opposed Question 2, created a Massachusetts Statewide K-12 Graduation Council to examine new graduation requirements.
"VISION OF A GRADUATE"
In September, commission co-chairs Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler and DESE Commissioner Pedro Martinez released a Massachusetts “Vision of a Graduate.” It's similar to “Portraits” put together by New York State and many individual school districts. Unlike traditional standards, and unlike most of the proposed graduation requirements, "Portraits" emphasize skills more than academic knowledge.
PROPOSED NEW GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Last Monday, the co-chairs issued draft graduation requirement recommendations, as reported in the Globe and WBUR. The recommendations are in the graphic. The most discussed are:
A state-mandated group of courses similar to MassCore.
Statewide standardized end-of-course (EOC) exams for an unspecified set of those courses.
A portfolio or capstone project to be completed by every graduate.
OPPORTUNITY TO DO BETTER
The passage of Question 2 and the Graduation Council give us an opportunity to think carefully about
what all students need to learn to be "prepared for college and career."
how to make sure all students get a chance to learn what they need
how to measure the things we value most
The Interim Report is full of information, but many questions remain on what the proposal would mean in practice:
Which and how many year-long courses would students have to take? pass?
How will that many courses fit into school schedules, especially for Career and Technical students? Will there be time for electives like more art? What if you have to repeat a course? (see pp. 22-23 in the Interim Report)
How long would each test be? how would it be counted for course credit - and "accountability?"
If you pass an EOC test in 10th grade, do you have to take more classes in that subject?
What will the state require for capstone/portfolio projects?
How will the new system be phased in, while 10th grade MCAS is phased out?
What will the changes cost and who will pay for them?
How do the proposed requirements reflect the skills from the "Vision?"
Most controversial are the EOC exams. The voters just abolished the MCAS graduation requirement by a 59-41 percent margin. How will these be different? Tutwiler and Martinez say the new tests won’t be “high stakes” because students won’t have to pass them. They would be part of the course grade, but if a student does badly on the test, the student could make that up by doing especially well on other course assignments.
It's not clear whether state officials currently have the power to impose EOC tests that play a role in graduation. It might require passing a new law. The federal government will still require annual standardized tests in English and math in grades 3 - 8 and once in high school, plus science once each in grades 3 - 5, 6 - 9, and 10 - 12. The EOC tests would (eventually) replace MCAS only in high school. That could be progress, depending on how many and how they are counted for students and for school "accountability."
Next: Can we use this opportunity for real change? Valuing what we measure vs. measuring what we value.
Pat Jehlen