Editorial Staff

MA’s Remote Learning Regs Should Specify Consistent District Grading Policies, Return of MCAS in 2020-21

/in , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Critical for high expectations, accountability to return after lost spring

BOSTON – The COVID-19 pandemic-related revisions to Massachusetts’ remote learning regulations should restore state and local accountability by specifying that any remote academic work shall, to the same extent as in-person education, prepare students to take MCAS tests, and that grading criteria should be the same across in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments, according to a new policy brief published by Pioneer Institute.

“Unlike last spring, the Commonwealth has had plenty of notice that schools would likely be at least partially remote in the fall,” said Jamie Gass, Pioneer’s director of education research and policy.  “It’s imperative that the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education send a clear and explicit message that core academics, grading, and MCAS expectations will be fully restored in the 2020-21 school year.”

Due to COVID-19, MCAS was canceled in the spring of 2020, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association supports pending legislation that would cancel MCAS for four years.

A database of Massachusetts school district reopening plans published by Pioneer Institute finds that as of August 18, about 90 percent of all students are enrolled in districts that have announced their plans. A full 200 districts, representing 526,229 students, have decided to reopen with a hybrid of in-person and remote learning options for parents. Fifty-five districts, representing 251,172 students, have opted to reopen fully remote. Since that time, Boston announced plans to reopen remotely.

The policy brief, “Accountability in Massachusetts’ Remote Learning Regulations,” written by David S. Clancy and Dr. John G. Flores, serves as Pioneer’s public comments on the proposed state regulations, which will be submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

About the Authors

David S. Clancy, a resident of Concord, Massachusetts, is a partner in the law firm Clancy & Shine LLC, which focuses on civil disputes. Mr. Clancy was previously partner at an international law firm, from which he retired after a 20-year career, also practicing civil litigation. Among other professional activities, Mr. Clancy served three terms on the Board of Editors of the Boston Bar Journal, and has published multiple articles in that and other legal publications.

Dr. John G. Flores is CEO and executive director emeritus of the United States Distance Learning Association, and an authority in the field of education, technology, and telecommunications. Flores led a Global Association focused on the application of distance learning for varied constituencies using varied technologies. He has held leadership positions as a School Superintendent, University Executive Dean and Business CEO for Distance Learning companies. He received his M.A. from Boston University and his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut focusing on educational technology, instructional design and leadership.

About Pioneer

Mission: Pioneer Institute develops and communicates dynamic ideas that advance prosperity and a vibrant civic life in Massachusetts and beyond.

Vision: Success for Pioneer is when the citizens of our state and nation prosper and our society thrives because we enjoy world-class options in education, healthcare, transportation and economic opportunity, and when our government is limited, accountable and transparent.

Values: Pioneer believes that America is at its best when our citizenry is well-educated, committed to liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise, and both willing and able to test their beliefs based on facts and the free exchange of ideas.

Get Updates on Our Education Research

Related Research

Can Massachusetts Reverse the Decline in U.S. History and Civics Performance?

Massachusetts — home to so much history, including seminal events such as the Boston Tea Party — has much to be proud of in its own students’ history and civics performance. Even as policymakers have supplanted typical curricular standards with “engagement” mandates that students participate in progressive activism, national attitudes towards Massachusetts’ civic education have remained envious.

Pulitzer Winner Stacy Schiff on Samuel Adams & American Independence

This week for the Fourth of July, the Learning Curve interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Stacy Schiff, who explores the American revolutionary Samuel Adams. She discusses Adams’ background, religion, and formative intellectual development, including the influences that Greco-Roman history, the Bible, and Enlightenment thinkers had upon his life and political thought.

Cara and Gerard on Their Time with The Learning Curve

This week on The Learning Curve, Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson close out their time as long-time cohosts of the podcast by sharing highlights and memories from over the last several years. They reflect upon the state of education reform, the growth of school choice, parental empowerment, the impact of the Great Books, and the wisdom of many well-known and influential guests.

Charter School Success: Importance in Suffolk County and College Enrollment

Learn about how charter schools set students up for success, especially in urban areas like Suffolk county. MCAS scores and college enrollment are stats that point to the impact of Charter schools.

A Bird’s Eye View: Massachusetts K-12 Education by County

Massachusetts has had the best public school system in the country for the past two decades: along with some of the highest per pupil spending as well. Among the counties, does high per pupil spending translate to better results? The short answer: not really.

Becket Fund’s Eric Rassbach on Religious Liberty & American Schooling

Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty discusses school choice and religious freedom, competing legal philosophies and views of the U.S. Constitution, and why issues pertaining to religion and schools remain so divisive at the K-12 level.

PRI’s Lance Izumi on Charter Schools & School Choice

Lance Izumi of the Pacific Research Institute discusses K-12 education reform, declining test scores, COVID-related learning loss, and the growth of education bureaucracy. He reflects on charter schools, school choice, and how U.S. history and civics should be taught.

Remove roadblocks for charter schools

Worcester, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, and other Gateway Cities in Massachusetts have large waiting lists for charter schools plus room to expand under state caps. What's needed are ways to curb obstructionist behavior that is blocking that expansion.

McGill Prof. Marc Raboy on Guglielmo Marconi & Global Communications

This week on The Learning Curve, McGill University Professor Marc Raboy, author of Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World, explores how twentieth-century Italian communications pioneer Guglielmo Marconi made his world-changing discoveries.

Donald Graham on The Washington Post, Media, and Educating Immigrants

This week on The Learning Curve, Donald Graham, Chairman of Graham Holdings Company, discusses the history of The Washington Post, his views on changing media in America, and his work in higher education reform and philanthropy on behalf of immigrant youth.

Columbia Law’s Philip Hamburger on Church, State, & School Choice

This week on The Learning Curve, noted constitutional law professor Philip Hamburger of Columbia Law School discusses the legal basis for private and religious school choice, and how American constitutionalism supports parental choice in education.

AEI’s Dr. Diana Schaub on the Founders, Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, & Civics

This week on The Learning Curve, Loyola University Maryland professor and AEI senior fellow Dr. Diana Schaub explores the legacies, speeches, and writings of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, and how knowledge of U.S. history and primary sources can debunk revisionist approaches to teaching history and civics.

Morehouse’s Prof. Marisela Martinez-Cola on Pre-Brown Cases for Educational Equality

This week on The Learning Curve, Morehouse College's Dr. Marisela Martinez-Cola, JD, discusses her book The Bricks before Brown: The Chinese American, Native American, and Mexican Americans' Struggle for Educational Equality, and the long struggle for equal opportunity in American education.

Marquette’s Dr. Howard Fuller on School Choice, Charter Schools, and Race

This week on The Learning Curve, Dr. Howard Fuller, Founder/Director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning (ITL) at Marquette University, discusses education reform, school choice, charter public schools, race, and the ongoing struggle to provide educational opportunity to all children in America.

Poll Finds Charter Schools Widely and Broadly Popular in Massachusetts

More than six years after the failure of a statewide ballot initiative that would have increased the number of charter public schools in Massachusetts, a poll shows that 62 percent either strongly or somewhat favor them, with only 16 percent opposed.

Columbia’s Pulitzer Winner Prof. Eric Foner on Lincoln, Slavery, & Reconstruction

This week on The Learning Curve, guest cohosts Charlie Chieppo and Alisha Searcy speak with Dr. Eric Foner, Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author on Lincoln, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Teachers union wants ed reform money — but not accountability

MTA campaign against graduation test takes their stand to 'farcical…

Fmr. Mississippi Chief Dr. Carey Wright on State Leadership & NAEP Gains

This week on The Learning Curve, Dr. Carey Wright, former Mississippi state superintendent of education, discusses the dramatic improvements in fourth graders' reading scores in Mississippi during her time there, the importance of early childhood education and literacy programs, the role of literature and art, and the inspiration educators can draw from Mississippi's heroes in the Civil Rights Movement.