September Board of Ed: historical overview of MCAS

 Craven: asked for overview prior to release of scores, will have Hills

Curtin: "nothing I say today should be construed as myself or the Department as taking any position on any proposed ballot question"
McDuffy v. Secretary

established state constitutional standards against which education reform efforts in Massachusetts would be judged"
"to support or to nourish or to nurture"
"really interesting to go back and read" the decision
"at least the seven following capabilities"
"remarkable at how well they've held up"
present that MCAS measure how well students have seven capacities required

1993 Ed reform: required high standards, state assessment system, accountability system, established competency determination, new school finance system

creation of statewide assessment system began after 1993
where MA was in ordinal rank among states (7, 3, 6, 4, 12...various grades) on NAEP
Development of MCAS, which took time; was first done in 1998 (which was the first year I taught full time in Massachusetts)
Craven: what happened in classrooms between 1993 and 1998?
following 1993, a lot of development and preparation that was done
Craven: concept of teaching to a test as opposed to teaching to standards
Curtin: basis of the test is standards, "and it has always been about the standards"
"about being able to assess what is in the standards"
chart of historic ELA MCAS data
"there's been some fits and starts"
field said fourth grade standards were more like 6th grade, 8th grade
there was the PARCC in 2006, COVID year
"pretty consistent results from where we've started to where" we are
then growth over time in 8th grade
ongoingly asking educators "what does it mean to be proficient in the standards" we're talking about
math: very consistent increase over time
8th grade gains marked over time
"knowledge and assessment of skills increased over time in the Commonwealth"
2003 was the first class of whom the competency determination in ELA and math was required
2010: added science and updated ELA and math threshold; also added growth model
2017: development of next-gen
2019: first administration of next-gen
2022: CD threshold raised for 2026, including parental notification of EPP and communication around MCAS appeal
Craven: accurate that 20% take an educational proficiency plan?
Curtin: should know off the top of my head, and I don't; don't want to guess
Craven: "all this is to say that there are flexibilities baked into the system"
Curtin: students can take the test up to five times; appeals process, including portfolio appeal, EPP process
graduation rates are at an all time high; "demonstrably false" that graduation rates would be hit as a result of the competency determination
"The same holds true for our annual drop out rates"
in 1994, 5% of students dropped out; it has been on downward trend since
"why is this important?"
"only consistent measure of student achievement we have" both to identify strengths and identify areas in which we need to improve
"it is only one data point"
"allows us to target our resources...while we use several data points to do that, one that we have to look at is where schools and districts are relative to student achievement"
"reflect likelihood for future earning success in the labor market...it is not the only predictor, but it does demonstrate the likelihood"
provide parents with consistent information across the Commonwealth on how their children are doing
in 2018, survey found 88% of MA parents reported their children were at or above grade level in ELA and math; in reality about 50% were
achievement levels are developed by MA teachers
full integration of computer-based with new procurement going on now
strong and ongoing participation by MA educators
"one of the biggest myths about MCAS is that we sit here at 75 Pleasant Street" and develop MCAS "and that could not be further from the truth"
265 educators--panel for each grade, each subject--reviewing items at multiple points in the process
280 educators on standard setting panels since 2017
"this is not something that we determine here at DESE"
procurement is not for seven year (period)
"We are always looking to improve what we do"
proposing new science assessment that "encourages students to practice science and do science"
have been working on that for a couple of year
expanded field test for this year
in FY26 plan to make operational in grades 5 and 8
think about moving into high school realm, as well
plan to implement 8th grade civics assessment; multiple interrelated components
FY24 field test
FY25 operational
"no plans" as of now for accountability tie
math and science offered in Spanish already at high school; proposing to expand 3-8 math and science in Spanish
potentially phase in additional languages
need to improve return of results; math and science already before end of year
increase AI scoring to get results esp. in grades 3-8 back to schools more quickly
consider rolling results to parents through portals
provide connections to other resources
average testing time in grades 3-8 in math and ELA combined is 8 hours; 9 hours with science
That's 1% of instructional time
majority of that is ELA
"the thing that takes the most time is essays"
at least one essay, but multiple response questions
"becoming increasing hard to find good passages" of reading to use
potentially use stand-alone item

Gardiner: disparities of parents in reporting
testing anxieties?
Curtin: the larger gap between how students are performing and how parents believe
Craven: national test echoes same point

Fisher: appreciate where we're going with the "doing of science"
a little concern about inequities in preparation for that
"don't have access to labs" and can only imagine
"can insure schools have adequate funding"
Curtin: something we've been closely attuned to
"won't go operational" unless we're certain

Mohamed: thanks for highlighting educators
English assessment and passages: why?
Curtin: "we want to find authentic passages that are culturally relevant, and free of bias and be able to develop questions from the standards as it relates to the passage"
"There is a cost at times"
"We also release items" and so can't use passages again

Craven: what does the Department do through the local schools to engage parents?
Curtin: to make sure that the parent report with the MCAS results is easily understood "so they'll get the most truth out of the MCAS results"
also talk to superintendents about how to talk to their stakeholders about results, including parents"

Stewart: "only consistent measure for student achievement"
terrible measure for parents
only ELA and math
in addition to empathy and kindness
"as a comprehensive assessment, it's not"

Hills (now presenting): competency determination "not to get some definitive view on it"
note that Hills isn't speaking near a mic and has slides with TEENY writing that I cannot read so I don't know what we can pick up here
"substantial value in predicting certain key life outcomes for students in all students groups while helping policy makers and educators prioritize needs"
of 70K students in a graduation class, 96% earn CD, 3% don't earn CD but also don't meet local requirements, 1% meet local requirements but don't earn CD
most students pass on first attempt and almost all pass on 2nd or 3rd attempt usually in grade 11
a significant number of 12th grade dropouts have passed CD
MA is only state that has only a test as the state requirement, whilst 49 of 50 states have comprehensive state requirements
and now there's four charts of which I cannot read any data at all which is the relationship for higher grade 10 scores and higher earnings, and the relationship is parallel among student groups
likelihood of enrolling and/or graduating from college at different achievement levels

we now have a slide in which the student outcomes relative to the CD bears a startling resemblance to carrots...it's still the 96%, 3%, 1%
and now a range by demographics with lower percentages for English learners and low income students
"there's some inequities across student groups" but the larger inequities are in the not meeting the CD and not meeting local requirements
students who are on IEPs who have the greatest amount of need are not earning the CD at much higher levels
"the longer someone has been an EL student the more likely they are to pass the CD"
"the slide that I mostly wanted to stare at the most" number of grade 12 dropouts who have passed the CD
14 districts account for 50% of 2019 grade 12 dropouts with 51% of those students having met the CD
(ok but did they complete a GED?)
and I actually have completely lost track of what his point is here now
Over 90% of students are passing on first attempt in all three tests
20% of students who earn the CD do so with an EPPP with some groups being more dependent on it
and there were whole paragraphs of that which I could not hear

Moriarty: easy vote because it's a measure of those who cross that state have a 10th grade level 
if they don't have it, what does it mean of that level
"that last one that says we have a constitutional mandate to provide all of our students" with a sufficient level of academic and vocational skills
not just worry about surrounding states
"have been leaders, continue to be leaders"

Craven: the burden is to follow the law; the burden on Senator Lewis and the legislature is to create the law
"have chosen that path of not mandating curriculum but assessing" implementation