Regional School Committee Supports MCAS Ballot Question
Photo: Massachusetts Teachers Association
Report on the Meeting of the Regional School Committee, October 8, 2024
This meeting was held in hybrid format and was recorded.
Committee Supports Ending MCAS Graduation Requirement
The Regional School Committee (RSC) voted 7-2 to support Question 2 on the November 5 state election ballot, which recommends that passing the MCAS be eliminated as a requirement for a high school diploma. Question 2 would retain the MCAS as an evaluation tool, but not require students to pass it to graduate from high school.
Amherst representatives to the RSC Jennifer Shiao and Bridget Hynes introduced a resolution in support of the initiative. Shiao said she was motivated to bring forth the issue after hearing that some students get physically ill before the test, experiencing vomiting, headaches, and stomachaches due to the stress of taking the test. She noted that the question is supported by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, two organizations which, she said, rarely agree. The Amherst Pelham Education Association has also voiced its support.
Hynes stated that she sees how much energy in the schools is spent on the test. She said, “I think when we’ve got limited resources, where we use them, how we use and how we put them forward, is something we should really be strategic about, where we can let something go, so we could put something better that supports high quality teaching and instruction, I just think that’s something I’m 100% behind.”
Fellow Amherst representative Deb Leonard said she has been in the schools and administered the test. She noted the “huge interruption” to learning caused by the several days of testing. She also objected to the use of the term “competency” in referring to a passing score in the subjects tested. Pelham representative William Sherr felt it was not right to tell a student who has come to school and passed all their courses that they cannot graduate because of their score on a test. Students who do not pass the 10th grade MCAS must retake the test each year until they achieve a satisfactory score.
Voting against the resolution were Amherst representative Sarah Marshall and Leverett representative Tilman Wolf. Marshall wanted to see data about how many students in the district are prevented from graduating and whether it’s a big problem. “To throw out the whole thing seems like trying to kill a mosquito with a shotgun.” Wolf felt it was important to have a statewide standard of academic achievement.
Amherst representative Irv Rhodes and Shutesbury representative Anna Heard voted for the resolution. Both admitted that the test is flawed, but Rhodes felt that having the measurements in place is a check on the performance of the school districts. Pelham representative Sarabess Kenney also voted in favor of the resolution.
State Data Show Discrepancy in Scores for Minority Students
Curriculum Director Mary Kiely presented the district’s assessment data from the state, which was released this week. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)scores each district on several parameters: achievement, student growth, high school completion, English language proficiency (attainment of proficiency within six years), and other parameters, such as chronic absenteeism and completion of at least one advanced course. Three of the five categories are based on MCAS scores.
Kiely noted that while Amherst students in grades 7-12 generally scored above the state average on the MCAS (except in 7th and 8th grade math and science), there was a glaring discrepancy between Hispanic and Black students and white and Asian students. This discrepancy is especially notable in math and science, where only 19% of Black students and 27% of Hispanic students in grades 9-12 achieved a satisfactory score in math, as opposed to 87% of white students and 55% of Asians. In science, proficiency was attained by 87% of white students, as opposed to 31% of Black students and 39% of Hispanic students.
Participation in the MCAS was also below the 95% required by DESE, especially among the lowest performing students. Making sure that the neediest students are not lost is a priority for the state. Kiely said that, during the pandemic, no one was really enforcing participation in the MCAS, but now it must be a priority.
School Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman stated that Amherst has strong programs, but the data show that the equity piece is lagging. “This is beyond a problem; this is a fire,“ she said. The schools need to engage families at the elementary schools and prevent students from moving forward without mastering the material, which leaves them with a deficit when they reach high school. She noted that the gap in scores starts in middle school and widens in high school. She thought that, with only two report cards issued per year, it was easy to miss those students falling behind, which is occurring with all subgroups—English language learners, students with disabilities, as well as minorities.
Rhodes stated, “I can’t sit here and think how we failed these kids. I know that something is terribly wrong that is affecting our Hispanic and Black students. This does not need to be, and it cannot continue to happen. We need to put incredible focus on it so those 7th graders are not lost. It can be turned around if we focus on it.”
Hynes said that the School Equity committee took a deep dive into the 2023 data, and this year looks even worse. She wondered if this data correlates with absentee records and pass rates. She noted that the schools get more segregated in the higher grades. Kiely said that there is a correlation between absenteeism and achievement, but also remarked that, although there are strong teachers at every level, there is little curriculum coherence, especially in math. Each teacher was teaching it in a different way before the new curriculum was instituted. The system is now working on implementing a new reading curriculum.
Herman said dealing with the discrepancies requires school-centered supports. She stated that she would never ask teachers to teach to the test, but that students must have the foundation they need to succeed on the test. In her previous district in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the district used federal funding for Title I and Title IX for afterschool and summer intervention programs. She stated that data show that students with disabilities and English language learners, when provided with needed supports and services, progress faster than others.
Heard said that the principal of each school needs to take responsibility for making sure their students have the foundation they need. Rhodes commented that the key is parental involvement.
Superintendent Developing Plans for Possible School Realignment
Herman said she and her team are still developing a plan for the future of the district. They are looking at the possibilities of moving the seventh and eighth grades to the high school and how to deal with the lack of space for sixth graders at Fort River and the move of all Amherst sixth graders in 2026. She wants the decisions on which school students will be attending to be made by January. She said she is working with the school design group at DESE to plan for the needed changes.
Other challenges the district is facing is staff attrition. Herman said that 29 staff members left last year, and 17 have already left this year, with nine positions still unfilled, meaning more costs for substitute teachers. Even so, the student population is declining, and the number of staff members per student is increasing. She is looking for ways to encourage families to stay in the district by supporting them at all levels of need. She noted that 94 students left the district to attend charter schools, at a cost of $2.3 million to the district. Also, there is the challenge of operating two buildings, the middle school and high school, both needing repairs.
To combat the decline in student population, Herman had ideas for innovative programs, such as a partnership with the five colleges where students possibly can attain a certification in addition to a high school diploma. She noted gaps in the programming offered at the high school, such as not having a junior ROTC program for students planning to join the armed forces. She also floated the idea of using the middle school as an innovation school if the seventh and eighth graders move to the high school. Her team is exploring available grants to expand programming.
In regard to next year’s budget, Herman said that a level services approach will not work. She wants to identify gaps in programs and needs and determine how to fund them. She is meeting with DESE about the regional agreement between the four towns, because she is not clear about the support for maintenance of the facilities, especially with the amount of deferred maintenance at the Middle School. She pointed out that the buildings are owned by the district, but are located in Amherst. She thought that it may help to facilitate repair of the Middle School if the building were empty for a year.
The search for a Middle School principal is continuing, despite the uncertainty about the use of the building in the coming year. Herman said the committee is looking at candidates with a Grade 5-12 certificate.