{"id":2021936,"date":"2023-09-05T08:11:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T12:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-teachers-union-wants-to-end-standardized-test-requirement-for-graduation\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T08:13:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T12:13:58","slug":"massachusetts-teachers-union-wants-to-end-standardized-test-requirement-for-graduation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-teachers-union-wants-to-end-standardized-test-requirement-for-graduation\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts teachers union seeks to eliminate graduation standardized test mandate."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmassachusetts-teachers-union-wants-to-end-standardized-test-requirement-for-graduation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2021936&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Battle\u200b Over Standardized \u2063Testing\u2063 in Massachusetts<\/h2>\n<p>The Massachusetts attorney general is on \u2062the verge of making a\u2063 crucial decision\u2063 this week. Supporters\u2062 of a\u200c petition to eliminate the state&#8217;s \u2064standardized test requirements for graduation are eagerly waiting to find out if they will be allowed to collect signatures for \u2062a statewide referendum.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>A Chance for Change<\/h3>\n<p>The proposed\u200c referendum, backed by the\u200d Massachusetts Teachers Association, aims to grant high school students their diplomas\u2063 without having to pass \u200cthe\u2064 Massachusetts \u200dComprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam. This would provide \u2063an \u200calternative path \u2064to graduation for students who have completed their coursework.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Currently, Massachusetts law mandates that students take the MCAS test in 10th grade and achieve a minimum score in math, English, and science to graduate. In 2022,\u200d the state Board of Education decided to raise the minimum passing score, citing concerns about the \u200cacademic performance \u200cof students who were \u2062passing the tests.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>MTA&#8217;s Commitment to\u200b Students<\/h3>\n<p>In a\u200c statement to the Washington Examiner, \u2062Max Page, President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and Deb \u200dMcCarthy, Vice President of the MTA, expressed \u2064their dedication to creating the \u200dbest learning environment \u200bfor all students. They argued that\u200c the MCAS graduation\u200d requirement was detrimental to \u200bstudents.<\/p>\n<p>Page and McCarthy explained,\u200d &#8220;Our Board of\u200b Directors voted to support a ballot initiative filed by parents, educators, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-to-recognize-civilization-when-you-see-it\/\" title=\"How To Recognize Civilization When You See It\">recent high school graduates<\/a>. This initiative aims to eliminate the harmful graduation requirement tied to MCAS exams. Instead, students would be\u2064 eligible for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">high school diploma<\/a> \u2062by\u2063 completing coursework that demonstrates mastery of competencies aligned with \u200dthe state&#8217;s high academic standards. It&#8217;s important to note that MTA educators are\u2062 not advocating for discontinuing MCAS exams altogether.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, \u200cthe \u2064union&#8217;s endorsement of the referendum faced strong criticism from Bob Eitel, President and Co-founder of \u2062the Defense of Freedom Institute and a former\u200d Department of Education \u2063official. Eitel accused the union of wanting to \u200cgraduate students \u2063who lack basic \u2063reading and writing skills.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>A Contentious Debate<\/h3>\n<p>Eitel\u2063 stated, \u200c&#8221;The fact\u200c that this teacher union wants to graduate\u2064 students \u2062who cannot read or do math tells you everything \u2063you need to know \u2063about its priorities. This union\u200c does not\u2062 care if students have learned the \u200beducational basics. \u2064It\u2062 cares about protecting teachers who fail\u200b to do their jobs, \u2062and students \u200bpay the price.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Massachusetts Attorney\u200c General\u200b Andrea Campbell will announce on \u200cWednesday whether \u200cthe petition \u200cqualifies\u200c as a ballot initiative. A spokesperson for Campbell directed the Washington Examiner\u200c to the state\u2063 website,\u200d which\u200d outlines the criteria for submitting a\u2062 ballot initiative.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Testing\u200b Tensions<\/h3>\n<p>Teachers \u2062unions have\u200d long been at odds with \u200cthe expansion of standardized \u2064testing requirements and have frequently \u2064advocated for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-teachers-union-wants-to-end-standardized-test-requirement-for-graduation\/\" title=\"Massachusetts teachers union seeks to eliminate graduation standardized test mandate.\">scaling back existing mandates<\/a>. While some unions oppose standardized testing entirely, \u2064others stop short \u2064of calling for its complete elimination.<\/p>\n<p>The American Federation of Teachers \u2062supports\u2063 the use of standardized testing to some extent but cautions \u200bagainst solely relying on test scores \u200cto evaluate\u200c individual student performance. They believe that other factors\u200b influencing student achievement \u2062should also be\u200b considered.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In contrast, the National Education Association (NEA), the largest \u200bteachers union in the country, believes that the\u2062 current standardized testing system is both inequitable \u200cand ineffective in assessing students&#8217; knowledge.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Seeking\u2062 Equitable Assessment<\/h3>\n<p>The NEA states on its \u2063website, &#8220;To ensure that every student\u2014regardless\u200c of\u200c their race, origin,\u2063 or \u200cbackground\u2014can have\u200b their \u2062learning assessed in an equitable and \u2062accurate\u200d way, \u200cwe are coming \u2063together \u200bto support changes to our testing system.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As the\u2063 battle over standardized testing continues, the fate of the petition in Massachusetts hangs in the balance.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\">CLICK HERE TO \u2064READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Massachusetts attorney general will soon decide if supporters of a petition to eliminate standardized test requirements for graduation can gather signatures for a statewide referendum. The Massachusetts Teachers Association supports this proposed referendum, which would grant high school students who have finished their coursework the opportunity to opt out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2021937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2021936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2021936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2021937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2021936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2021936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2021936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}