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School districts now have the choice to make MCAS a graduation requirement.

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) was first introduced in the commonwealth in 1993, and it became a high school graduation requirement statewide in 2003 to meet the federal “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001. It has generally been seen as a successful, albeit flawed, method to track basic student competency levels. 

This should not have changed. Unfortunately, this past November, voters disagreed, with 59 percent of them choosing to make MCAS optional, with schools and districts able to determine their own graduation thresholds.

As our own district, the question of keeping MCAS as a graduation requirement at AMSA has not been officially answered, but the school must make the right choice.

As of last year, I completed all MCAS exams required for graduation— and I can confidently say that none of them was the hardest test I took. Compared to a chemistry quiz or a math final, the MCAS was easy.

In a mock election in my history class in the fall, more than 80 percent of students voted to keep the MCAS. In large measure, it’s because the exam isn’t viewed as particularly difficult. The proof goes beyond the opinions of students here — according to 2024 data from the Massachusetts Department of Education’s website, only 13 percent of nearly 70,000 10th grade students failed the MCAS math portion— the highest percentage of failure compared to science’s 11 percent and English’s 12.

The vocal opponents of MCAS argued prior to the election that this “high stakes” test is a needless worry for young people to face. Nevertheless, most of those opposed to it aren’t the ones actually taking it. Misguided parents and false campaigns were able to sway voters, who should’ve been listening to students, the people it actually affects.

Left on their own, some schools may make a new graduation requirement easier or even harder, and if each school has something different then it will be much more difficult to compare schools and the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of instruction and learning.

Without the MCAS, a basic test of competency and literacy, how would each school district know how their students are doing? With grade inflation being a major problem nationwide, it is much harder to know which students are struggling and which should be put into higher levels. With the MCAS, each school gets to see how their students are learning and how they should improve their curricula and instruction.

As someone who is not a fan of taking tests, I see why people want to remove the MCAS. Nevertheless, the removal of the MCAS is a mistake. It should have been improved and changed, not taken away entirely.

The “yes” vote on Question 2 is a disappointment, and now future classes are potentially going to be graduating with a lesser requirement or none at all. I urge AMSA to keep the test. As a charter school we have that choice.

If the MCAS is still administered as a gauge of learning, but there is no requirement to pass, students have no motivation to try. Especially from my experience taking optional exams, if it doesn’t affect your grades or stop you from graduating, students will not care and will not do their best work.

At AMSA we need the MCAS to maintain high standards that are arguably already getting lax, and I urge the school administration and the board of trustees to make the right choice.

Keep the MCAS.