With its MCAS graduation requirement repealed, Massachusetts faces the task of determining the proper balance between the state and local districts in setting graduation requirements and certifying that students have met those requirements. The question is not new. In this post Jeff Nellhaus and I discuss how it has been addressed since the state’s Education Reform law established the test-based requirement in 1993. We also caution the state to not conflate this question with other graduation-related questions it is attempting to answer.
Author Archives: Charlie DePascale
misReading Our Mathematics Problem
All too often we consider test results separately by content area. We’ve started to think of English language arts and literacy skills as interdisciplinary, but until I started thinking about the 2024 NAEP results, I don’t think that I fully grasped the connection between student performance in reading and mathematics.
Are We Dumber Or Just Different?
In a preemptive shot ahead of the 2024 NAEP results we were told that Americans have been getting dumber. Perhaps, but I’m not sure that’s a conclusion we can reach based on an average scaled score – even on NAEP. And I’m fairly certain it’s not the best question to be asking tomorrow when those scores are released.
NAEP, Why Must You Vex Me So?
We are one week away from NAEP Day and the release of the 2024 NAEP Reading and Mathematics results! It’s a day portrayed as our Super Bowl, Christmas morning, and release of the Orange Crop report all rolled into one. So why, once again, am I not excited?
Ultraprocessed Test Scores – Just How Bad Are They?
The New York Times Well newsletter kicked off 2025 with a series on ultraprocessed foods; addressing not only the dangers they pose, but also increasing awareness of their ubiquitousness, explaining their appeal, and offering tips for living healthier with them. It may be helpful to do the same for test scores.
A Year To Embrace The Absurd
Happy New Year! As 2025 begins, I take a look back at 2024 as the year in which my blog took on a life of its own, fulfilling its destiny to Embrace The Absurd. And I make the bold prediction that whatever issues we end up discussing across 2025, at their core will be the one issue that has remained constant while constantly changing – time.
Calculus in High School – It Doesn’t Add Up
Each year, I make a list of possible topics to address in the blog. Each year, the absurdity of top high school students with zero interest in mathematics sitting through calculus makes the list, but not the blog, because well, it’s calculus. Who really cares? But as 2024 draws to a close, calculus suddenly is in the headlines. It’s a Newton-mas Miracle! LFG
Through the Looking Glass on Educational Assessment and What I Found There
While writing about large-scale assessment over the past month, the lyrics to Grace Slick’s White Rabbit grew louder and louder in the back of my head. I’m not certain, but it’s probably not a good sign when pondering the past, present, and future of your field evokes a 1960s psychedelic rock anthem.
The Fallout & The Future of State Testing
As state officials in Massachusetts struggle to deal with the fallout surround the end of the MCAS graduation requirement and the rest of us try to envision the future of state testing, it’s critical that we have a clear understanding of where we are, how we got here, and where we want to go.
Farewell, MCAS Graduation Requirement, and We Thank You
Last week, a ballot referendum in Massachusetts ended the test-based MCAS graduation requirement. While remembering what went into making that requirement a reality in 2001 and kept it in place for so long, I have to wonder what comes next and whether this will become a case of be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
Embrace the Absurd 