Alongside students, MCAS is returning to Grafton schools

Recently, the floor of the Grafton High School gym was covered with a brown material and filled with socially distanced desks.

Call it an emergency MCAS drill.

Despite lobbying by school committees and educators across the state, MCAS is returning to school alongside the last of the hybrid-taught students. The timeline for administering the tests has changed — grades 3-8 and grade 10 now will complete the tests by June 11 — and no school system’s performance will be affected by the outcome.

“The way it looks now, we’re in fantastic shape,” Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings told the School Committee Tuesday night.

MCAS was canceled last year as schools turned to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the Class of 2022 did not sit for their 10th grade MCAS and the test has been waived as a graduation requirement. Juniors still may opt-in to MCAS if they want to be eligible for the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, which waives tuition at all Massachusetts state colleges and universities, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

In addition, DESE will offer remote administration of the ELA, mathematics and science assessments this spring for grades 3 through 8 to accommodate families who chose to have their children learn remotely through the remainder of the school year.

Responding to the School Committee’s request for a statewide waiver of the MCAS requirement, State Rep. David Muradian expressed support but noted the issue is out of the state’s hands.

“Unfortunately, the federal government will not allow states to opt out of mandatory testing this year and has rejected similar waiver requests submitted by other states. This federal policy reflects the concerns that have been raised about how the pandemic has impacted student learning and a desire to use standardized testing to help gauge the extent of this learning loss,” Muradian wrote. “I do know that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is still determining the best way to safely test students this year, which may include administering the MCAS remotely. DESE has already made some accommodations, including shortening the MCAS by 50 percent and requiring the test to be taken in two parts. I can assure you that I will continue to monitor this ongoing situation.”

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