There's some confusion swirling around just what the participation of Massachusetts in the creation of new assessments mean, to wit: would this supplement or replace the MCAS?
From Governor Patrick's campaign:
“Governor Patrick remains firmly committed to the MCAS as a graduation requirement, and as an accountability measure to ensure the success of our students."
From the federal government:
"These more advanced assessments will replace tests currently in use and shouldn’t result in more time devoted to testing."
Commissioner Chester and Secretary Reville are quoted in the above Globe article as saying that, while Massachusetts may participate in developing the new tests, the Commonwealth won't adopted them unless the test is "more rigorous than the MCAS" (withholding comment here on rigor of the MCAS)...which is pretty much what they said about the Common Core standards and the Mass Frameworks, right up until they adopted the Common Core.
At the end of the day the point of a national assessment test is so that it's easier for corporations to land a big contract. Instead of negotiating with fifty state Boards of Education they only have to negotiate with the Department of Education which can hand out a nice big contract to the one company that impresses (pays) the most. It's purely a gimmick to ensure corporations are finding it easier to make money off public education.
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