Dive Brief:
- In Massachusetts, Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester’s proposal to adopt an “MCAS 2.0” standardized test that blends components of the old MCAS with those from the PARCC test has been approved by the state's Board of Education.
- The new test won’t be unveiled for another year and a half, the Boston Globe reports.
- Some remain opposed to the new plan, including the leader of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and an amendment will prevent students' scores from impacting schools and districts until 2018.
Dive Insight:
“They’re just hiding PARCC inside MCAS — let’s not be deceived,” Barbara Madeloni, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, told the Globe. “This is clearly a political decision.”
Her comments are based on the fact that Chester himself is the chairman of PARCC’s governing board.
Because Massachusetts has to meet federal requirements, the state is mandated to begin administering the new blended test by the spring of 2017. The quick turnaround has some worried, including Margaret McKenna, president of Suffolk College and the Board of Education member who proposed the aforementioned amendment. McKenna expressed dismay about “rushing” into the new test without “proper time for development, beta testing, and setting standards.”
The Board’s one student member, a charter high school senior, voted against the proposal based on opposition to all PARCC elements.