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MCAS Graduation Requirement Waived For Class Of 2022
Massachusetts class of 2022 high school students won t need to pass MCAS tests to graduate
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This year s high school junior class will not need to take or pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests in order to graduate, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education decided on Tuesday.
The move is one of a series of pandemic-influenced shifts the state has made within its standardized testing program since COVID-19 first shuttered school buildings last spring.
Students are typically required to pass 10th grade English and math MCAS exams in order demonstrate competency in the two subjects and graduate. Last year s 10th graders, the class of 2022, did not have an opportunity to take those tests last spring because education officials obtained a federal waiver and legislative approval to cancel the spring 2020 MCAS administration in the early days of remote learning.
BOSTON â This year s high school junior class will not need to take or pass MCAS tests in order to graduate, under a change approved Tuesday by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The move is one of a series of pandemic-influenced shifts the state has made within its standardized testing program since COVID-19 first shuttered school buildings last spring.
Students are typically required to pass 10th grade English and math MCAS exams in order demonstrate competency in the two subjects and graduate. Last year s 10th graders, the class of 2022, did not have an opportunity to take those tests last spring because education officials obtained a federal waiver and legislative approval to cancel the spring 2020 MCAS administration in the early days of remote learning.
Wicked Local
For workers, new skills are the springboard to job opportunities and growth.
Statewide and regional business associations from across the Commonwealth, including the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, have launched the Massachusetts Business Coalition on Skills (MBCS).
The new statewide coalition will advocate for policies that develop the skills of the Cape and Islands current and future workforce.
The MBCS formed because there are two sides to the skills gap, and both can drag job and economic growth.
On the employer side, it is difficult to find qualified talent. A 2019 survey by coalition member Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) found that 73% of Massachusetts employers find it “somewhat difficult” or “very difficult” to find people with the right skills to fill open positions.
Students And Teachers Anxious About Return To In-Class Instruction
Catherine De Jesus Martinez is a junior at Dorchesterâs Boston International Newcomers Academy and president of her class. She said that she s happy to have her first vaccine dose and be returning to in-person learning, but she also sees the anxiety among some of her classmates.
courtesy Catherine De Jesus Martinez
Returning To In-Class Instruction
Massachusetts students will continue their return to full-time, in-person instruction during the next few weeks, and there s a new focus on the social, emotional and academic needs that come with re-entering the classroom.
Catherine De Jesus Martinez is a junior at Dorchesterâs Boston International Newcomers Academy and president of her class. She said that this past Monday, she and 200 other students got their first vaccine doses. And it was a relief.