By Michael Coughlin Jr.
At the Revere School Committee’s regular meeting last week, Superintendent Dianne Kelly highlighted the impact of a new law removing the MCAS exam as a high school graduation requirement.
Kelly, who mentioned that a letter about this matter would be sent out to families, indicated that there is not much of a change. “The MCAS has not gone away — which is what some people think — it’s the graduation requirement that went away,” she said.
“Currently, students are still required by federal law to take the state assessment at certain grade levels, which we will continue to do.”
While the graduation requirement has gone away, Kelly emphasized that taking the MCAS is still important for a couple of reasons.
First, she stated that the MCAS was still used as a qualifier for the John and Abigail Adams scholarship. The state’s Department of Higher Education website states that the scholarship, based on performance on the 10th-grade MCAS exam, “provides a credit toward tuition for up to eight semesters of undergraduate education at a Massachusetts state college or university.”
Kelly also indicated that the MCAS is still used as a determinant of whether a student can earn the Seal of Biliteracy. “That’s how they demonstrate their literacy in English language arts,” she said.
General graduation requirements were also discussed, and Kelly explained that some districts with less rigorous obligations now have to revise them, though that is not the case for Revere.
“We in Revere already had a more stringent requirement, so basically, the change for students and families is that they don’t have to pass MCAS to graduate. They still have to do everything else that’s outlined in the guide for families and students,” she said.
Moreover, it was explained that the state still requires that students be identified as having completed or not completed a competency determination.
“The guidance that we got from the state is that a competency determination will be earned when a student completes the coursework that’s relatively similar to what was required in order to have passed MCAS,” said Kelly.
Essentially, this means students would earn the competency determination by completing algebra, geometry, English 9, English 10, and biology.
“For the most part, for most students, they’re automatically going to hit that competency determination as they work their way toward our graduation requirements, which include even more than that,” said Kelly.
It should be noted that the aforementioned letter to families includes a page listing the courses that students need to complete to get the competency determination. The letter also includes requirements for students who receive IEP services through the Excel program, English learners, and those who transfer into the district.
Also, the new law does impact students from the past who did not graduate from high school because they did not pass the MCAS.
“We’re working through some guidance from the state on that… we will be reaching out to every student who falls into that category in the near future as soon as we have accurate information,” said Kelly.
After Kelly provided a majority of these updates, the committee’s Vice-Chair, Jacqueline Monterroso, commented and suggested reviewing graduation requirements in the future to make them more innovative.
For example, she suggested requiring students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and to take at least one advanced course. She also discussed incorporating vocational and trade classes and adding community service hours.
To view a recording of this discussion, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruaa1K9zlMk and skip to 56:30. Additionally, a copy of the previously mentioned letter can be found in the January 21st School Committee Regular Meeting agenda packet on page 41. The agenda packet can be found at https://reverema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Board/1048-Revere-School-Committee.
“I don’t think this is a huge change, even though it sounds like a huge change. It’s not a huge change in terms of what our kids in Revere have to do to graduate,” said Kelly.
“Really, the big difference is they don’t have to pass MCAS but I want to emphasize there are a lot of really good reasons why they should still take that test seriously.”
