Since 1998, MCAS has been a test that students all around Massachusetts have been required to take. Since 2003, it's been a requirement to graduate. For most students in Massachusetts, it’s not the most enjoyable time of the year. Many question whether it's necessary at all. Others see it as an opportunity to ensure students are learning the necessary material in school. But, should it be a requirement to graduate?
What may come as a surprise to most is that many teachers disagree with MCAS and see it as unnecessary and an inaccurate way to test students’ intelligence. Tenth-grade English teacher Anne Mooney had conflicting thoughts about MCAS and saw it as unnecessary. “I think that it emphasizes the wrong parts of education; it takes the focus away from actually trying to learn to this test that doesn't say anything about a student,” Mooney said.
Many students and teachers expressed that the test is unfair to those who are new to the country and don’t know English well enough. “When I first took the MCAS, I had just come to the United States and I struggled with English. I wasn’t the best at it back then, so it was taking me way longer than needed,” Sophomore Rashmi KC mentioned. During MCAS students are provided a dictionary, but many students still had significant trouble completing the test while attempting to translate words at the same time. For many, it was difficult to translate the words, comprehend them, and answer all the questions in a reasonable time.
Others see MCAS as a good opportunity to see how students have grown over the years. English teacher Jennifer Clapp believes it gives students and teachers a good opportunity to stay on track with their developments in writing in class. “It also does help drive the curriculum a little bit more, to get people to make sure that they're incorporating writing into their work with students, and different kinds of writing as well.” MCAS has been seen as an opportunity to incorporate all you have learned into one test to show that you have grown. Many argue that state testing is vital to ensure that students' growth is being tested to better the system and prevent blockage of growth.
Math teacher Chris Giordano simply feels there should be some sort of testing requirement to graduate. “I definitely have mixed feelings about MCAS as a graduation standard, but I think it’s important that at a state level, we hold students accountable for what they should be learning,” Giordano expressed. Similarly, Giordano sees the MCAS as an opportunity to hold students accountable for what they have learned, as math is a vital skill for life. Giordano has conflicting feelings as well. “I think kids get really stressed out about it because they know that it has a really big effect on their graduation,” Giordano added.
For the students themselves, it’s been quite a stressful part of the year. “It puts a lot of weight on you because students think, oh I have to do well and make high marks,” Sophomore Ndiaye Oliver remarks. Oliver continues to explain how the state testing system has always made her nervous and felt unnecessary to stress about. “I remember the first time I took the MCAS being nervous as I felt they did not prepare us, being so young.” Oliver feels that in recent years she has been better prepared but still felt nervous for the test.
Many teachers at Malden High School have taken the time with their students to prepare them for MCAS both physically and mentally. Many teachers took the time to create small units to help encourage their students by trying their best to help them know what to expect and know that they had prior practice. “The biggest thing I try to emphasize, and I hope that they all get this, is whatever they end up getting on this test is just one piece of their learning path; it doesn't define them,” Mooney emphasized.
