Do we really need the MCAS, do we really need it to Graduate!?!?

There are pros and cons to MCAS.  Many people say that MCAS is bad and many say it is a good thing, I am in the middle of that group.   Growing up I was stuck with the taking the MCAS and as a student I hated it, but I now believe that it can be a good thing. The MCAS was made to look at schools progress. The school boards can see what schools are doing poor and which ones are doing well. These tests can show which schools need better teachers, more classes for the MCAS, or just new ways of teaching to their students. When I was in school it was like every year they decided to add a new test in, they called my class "the guinea pigs" we had to take the science MCAS to see if it was worth it for them to implement as a test. In 10th grade you need to take the MCAS and pass it to graduate from high school if you don't you have chances to retake it, but it brings down the students who don't pass. 

I found a website that has reviews on the MCAS from teachers who have to teach to the MCAS. They put in their pros and cons and other teachers vote on points they agree with.  Some teachers said it went with the standards they teach and others disagreed with that.   One big con I kept seeing was it does not access higher order thinking, and also that it doesn't help the teachers track where their students are, because learning is gained over time.  One quote from a teacher caught my attention "Further, the test given at the end of 8th grade assesses students on content from 6th, 7th and 8th grades, leaving one teacher responsible for preparing students on 3 years' worth of material, and placing a huge pressure on students to bring a lot of content knowledge to one test."  That is very true it tends to become a lot of information for students to keep in and remember.http://www.assessment-advisor.org/view/111/massachusetts-comprehensive-assessment-system
I remember in school I had teachers that would teach all year to the MCAS and have an MCAS question of the day every single day, and others waited till a couple weeks before to teach us stuff on the MCAS.  They also tried to explain to use the set up of the test and a lot of kids would groan because they didn't like multiple choice and were really bad at them.  I am horrible at essays normally because I never know how to put my thoughts in order and end up writing a story so when it came to the English MCAS I got very anxious before I took it. The MCAS makes kids very nervous and takes up a lot of time. I understand why we have standardized tests but it makes me wonder is there an easier way to do them.
Lastly there is now a graduation problem for students due to the fact that they have to pass the 10th grade MCAS to graduate. I was researching things about the MCAS and found out that 3,000 students were denied diplomas due to the MCAS in 2010.  http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/06/08/3000_denied_diplomas_because_of_mcas/
Knowing so many students couldn't graduate is horrible just due to one test when religious schools and private schools don't even have to take the MCAS.  MCAS doesn't even matter to the college or universities they don't look for your MCAS scores they just want to see your SAT's. So why is it students have to be put through so much stress when colleges don't look for the scores?

 

I think we need tests to see where all the schools are at but I think we could tone down the MCAS.