Massachusetts’s switch on Common Core testing is ‘hugely symbolic,’ educators say
Massachusetts, long a leader in the push to set and create national standardized testing, recently switched back toward relying on a state-based test. That move sets a precedent for other anti-Common Core states, The New York Times reports.
Massachusetts has used the statewide test MCAS for almost 20 years. In the last two years, spurred by a push from Massachusetts educators, some districts began using the PARCC, a test used by several states that is aligned with national Common Core requirements.
After a contentious debate, the state Board of Education agreed last week to create a new MCAS test using the concepts of the PARCC. Though they will still be involved in the consortium of states that developed the PARCC, the new test represents a shift away from a national test, according to the Times:
The state’s rejection of that test sounded the bell on common assessments, signaling that the future will now look much like the past — with more tests, but almost no ability to compare the difference between one state and another.
“It’s hugely symbolic because Massachusetts is widely seen as kind of the gold standard in successful education reform,’’ Morgan Polikoff, an assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California who is leading an evaluation of the national tests, told The Times. “It opens the door for a lot of other states that are under a lot of pressure to repeal Common Core.’’
You can read the full story at The New York Times.
Gallery: The top high schools in Massachusetts, according to Newsweek.
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