MASSACHUSETTS & NEW YORK REJECT GRADUATION EXAM REQUIREMENTS; ONLY SIX STATES MAINTAIN MANDATORY EXIT TESTS FOR DIPLOMA; VOTERS AND POLICY MAKERS SEE EDUCATION AND EQUITY BENEFITS FROM MULTIPLE MEASURES OF LEARNING
for further information:
Harry Feder 917 273-8939 Bob Schaeffer 239 699-0468
for immediate release, Wednesday,November 13, 2024
In recent blows to high-stakes standardized testing, Massachusetts and New York have rejected reliance on standardized tests to determine high school diploma eligibility.
Last week Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly (by a 59-41% margin) supported a ballot question removing passage of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) high school exams as a graduation requirement. Students will still have to take the MCAS for federal accountability purposes. They will also have to pass courses determined locally that meet Massachusetts learning and curriculum frameworks.
In New York, on Nov. 4 officials of the State Education Department (SED) revealed a plan to phase out required passage of statewide Regents exams, the oldest state high school exams in the country, by the 2027-28 school year. In place of the test, New York has sketched out a “portrait of a graduate” reflecting seven areas over which students must show proficiency. New ways will be developed for students to demonstrate competencies in those areas, such as graduation level subject area projects, capstones, internships and workplace skill certification. Existing examples, such as performance-based assessments currently used by 38 high schools for graduation, can provide templates for future requirements.
FairTest Executive Director Harry Feder praised the moves: “States across the country continue to abandon high-stakes standardized tests for graduation. Parents, educators and policy makers realize that these tests fail as drivers of education that our young people need to thrive in the modern world. Their negative impact in denying otherwise hard-working, engaged students diplomas falls disproportionately on English Language Learners and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Exit exams are poor indicators of whether students are graduating with the skills and knowledge necessary to be ready for college and career, succeed in the modern technologically driven workforce, and assume their role in an educated citizenry.”
Feder concluded, “If we don’t change the way we educate and engage young people, which includes developing more meaningful ways of assessing their learning as Massachusetts and New York seem poised to do, we will alienate swaths of students from full participation in our economy and society. We need to encourage work that teaches students real world skills, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving.”
The six remaining states with mandatory exit exams are: Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia.
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