HUNTINGTON – While the question of whether MCAS testing would take place this school year has been answered, several others remain, according to Gateway Regional School District Superintendent David Hopson.

On April 14, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeffrey Riley announced the cancellation of the administration of tests for grades 3-10 on April 10 after the federal and state governments waived their respective testing requirements.

But in his Superintendent’s Corner letter to the district, Hopson noted there was still significant uncertainty surrounding the tests and the decision’s implications. “For example, what about current 10th graders that need a competency determination to graduate in two years? How will district and school ratings be determined with a missing year? How will the closing of schools for multiple weeks play into student performance? While we could all hope that this will be the start of moving away from standardized tests to measure student and school performance, I doubt that will be in the cards.”

Riley said in his cancelation announcement that the state’s legislation would also allow for the waiver or modification of the graduation requirements associated with the testing, but no guidance had been released as of press time.

Jacqueline Reis, media relations coordinator for DESE, told Reminder Publishing she had no additional information on next year’s testing or accountability standards.

“We have not made any announcements about next year’s MCAS yet. We are focused on students’ and teachers’ well-being and the implementation of remote learning,” she said.

Additionally, no guidance regarding the Stanley Z. Koplik Certificate of Mastery Award and the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship had been released. The Koplik Certificate and Adams Scholarship both come with a tuition credit to a Massachusetts state college or university.

"Students qualify with their 10th grade MCAS scores,” Reis said. “Because of the COVID-19 closures, 10th graders are not required to take MCAS this year because of the COVID-19 closures. I expect we will release more information about the Adams scholarships and Koplik certificate in the future.”

Currently, to qualify for the Klopik Certificate, sophomore students – class of 2022 – must achieve a score of advanced on one of the English language arts (ELA), math or science and technology education (S/TE) high school MCAS test and the following minimum scores for the remaining high school tests – 472 for ELA, 476 for math or 240 for S/TE. Additionally, all students must demonstrate “additional academic achievements” on Advanced Placement (AP) and/or SAT II exams, according to DESE.

The College Board has continued its AP testing exclusively online. Students may take the grade 10 MCAS tests a second time in grade 11 in an attempt to meet the Koplik Certificate requirements.

The current Adams Scholarship requirements call for an advanced score on the grade 10 MCAS test in ELA, math or S/TE and proficient or higher in the other two tests and a combined score that places students in the top 25 percent of students in their district. Unlike the Koplik Certificate, students are not afforded the option of taking the 10th grade test a second time.

Hopson opined “it appears that this crisis will extend past the current May 4 emergency declaration” and that prediction came to fruition on April 21 with Gov. Charlie Baker’s announcement that all public and private schools would remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

Baker said in his press conference that the state is still in the midst of its surge of COVID-19 and stated, “so right now, people need to dig deep and stay put.”

Both Baker and Riley said in their discussions with school stakeholders, including superintendents, principals, teachers and parents, the general feeling was if there was a safe way to return to school, they would like to do so, but after consideration, it was determined impossible to do so without putting children, families and educators at risk. They also stressed the closure of schools does not signify an early start to summer vacation.

Riley indicated that DESE would issue guidance for school districts for continued remote learning through the end of the year. Baker said a remote learning initiative would be launched by the state as well as an advisory group made up of “school officials, students, parents and business leaders” to develop additional learning resources.    

Baker also said DESE was preparing summer learning plans to assist students at risk of falling behind grade level and boost readiness when students return to the classroom in the fall.