Westford Academy is currently ranked 19th in education out of Massachusetts’s 405 public high schools. Our town is renowned for its education system, all the way from kindergarten through high school. It is hard to forget the state itself, which is ranked first nationally in public education. This raises the question: how have Massachusetts and the Westford Public Schools system maintained such a high quality of education? Although it is hard to pinpoint the exact reason, one thing comes to mind when we think of the educational standard: the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS).
The MCAS has been a graduation requirement for Massachusetts high school students since the test’s creation in 1993. It was designed to be the standard of education statewide. On Nov. 6, 2024, Massachusetts voters choose to remove MCAS as a graduation requirement. Now, discussions have begun in Westford: should we, as a town, keep the MCAS as a graduation requirement? In my opinion, we undoubtedly should.
Most students find the MCAS to be a relatively simple assessment. If a high schooler is unable to pass the test, then they should not be allowed to graduate and receive a high school diploma. To pass, a student would only need around a 470 on the MCAS, depending on the subject–and they would be given the opportunity to retake it several times before they graduate. Even if it is not a graduation requirement, students will still have to take the MCAS, so keeping it as a graduation requirement would not consume any more time.
On that note, removing MCAS as a graduation requirement, while also still making students take the assessment, is fruitless. Students will feel no motivation to perform well and nothing is stopping them from turning the test in blank. This then skews the results of the test and does not provide accurate information about where students actually need more support. If students are consistently performing poorly in a certain area on the MCAS, then the school will know that improvement is necessary in the style of teaching that subject. This helps keep our standard of education high. Without the motivation to submit meaningful, well-thought-out answers, students will will not be turning in an accurate overview of their understanding, and schools will be unable to determine where they need to focus on improving.
Additionally, taking the MCAS seriously helps students work on their decreasing attention spans caused by social media and a rise in multitasking, among other factors. The assessment usually takes around two to three hours, which is nothing like the average high school exam. Even midterms and finals here at WA only take an hour and a half, so the only mandatory exam at this length is in fact the MCAS as other longer tests such as the SAT and ACT are not mandatory. This can help students who would like to pursue higher education, as college finals are also typically two to three hours, depending on the college and the course.
Not only can the MCAS benefit students in their future endeavors, but it can also benefit students in the present. With passing the MCAS being a mandatory graduation requirement, students will naturally be inclined to pay more attention in their respective classes. No one really studies for the MCAS at WA, so it is not like a test or quiz where students will cram the night before. Instead, when presented with the prospect of the MCAS, students tend to focus on their classes and have motivation to work harder on their assignments as well.
Some may argue that with WA’s already rigorous course load and classes, the MCAS being a graduation requirement is the last thing students need. To rebut this argument: the MCAS is not an addition to a student’s workload, as WA students do not study for the assessment anyway. Instead, the MCAS encourages students to focus more on what they are already learning in class. As for the additional stress, the MCAS should not do so because students have been taking it since they were in third grade and know that it is not visible in any way to potential colleges.
It is regrettable that Massachusetts voters decided to remove the MCAS as a graduation requirement for high schools, but Westford voters should not go down the same path. In order to preserve the excellent education standard of our town, it would be in our best interest to vote to keep MCAS as a graduation requirement.
