MALDEN, MASS. (WHDH) - The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will consider phasing out some MCAS tests for high school students during their monthly meeting on Tuesday.
Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley has presented recommendations for phasing out two of the four MCAS high school science and technology/engineering subject tests that are currently available to students seeking to meet the competency determination requirements for graduation.
Students need to meet the state standard on only one MCAS high school science and technology/engineering test to earn the competency determination.
Riley says that most students take the biology or introductory physics MCAS test, while only a small percentage take the chemistry or technology/engineering MCAS test.
“Eliminating these two MCAS tests does not mean eliminating courses in chemistry and technology/engineering,” Riley wrote in a memorandum to the education board. “Our high school MassCore requirements include three years of a laboratory science, so most students will have opportunities to take either or both of these subjects.”
Riley’s proposal is to offer the chemistry and technology/engineering MCAS tests for two additional years before eliminating them in spring of 2024.
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