In judging schools by test scores, many national and local scholars look at student demographics, socio-economic and equity contexts and perspectives.*  Politicians and media, however, rarely provide a broader view. But it is important to understand Massachusetts’ testing, what it means, and how it is used.

Lynn Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Tutwiler presented 2021 MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) results to the Lynn School Committee in November.

As with most results throughout the commonwealth, compared to the 2019 results, student scores declined. Younger children were the most impacted. High school students showed the smallest drop in scores.

These results were disappointing, but not surprising, considering the year of disrupted learning. After the pandemic year of remote learning, there was no 2020 MCAS.

During that year-plus of remote and hybrid learning, technical glitches, and inconsistent attendance, teaching and learning were difficult for children, their parents and teachers. During the 2020-21 school year, there was more technical support for students and teachers. But most teachers had never met their students in person. Even now, with the excitement of returning to in-person classrooms, teachers and administrators report challenges, with many children not used to school habits and routines.

Massachusetts has determined that the 2021 scores will not be used to judge and label schools and districts. This is a good thing. Nevertheless, policy makers and the media still lament the lower test scores.

Reporters often describe results of “standardized tests.” Editorial writers bemoan results and advocate for more testing. Teacher unions may advocate for less testing, often using the same term of “standardized tests.” Classroom teachers and administrators may have mixed opinions of mandated state testing, and advocate for more varied forms of assessment.

It is important to clarify several terms. The MCAS is not a standardized test, but a standards-based test. Standardized tests, like the Iowa tests that districts purchased in the past, rank and compare students.

This means that reports tell parents how their child’s scores compare to their classmates and other students nationally.  For example, if a child is in the 60th percentile, it means that they scored better than 60 percent of the students who took the test, not that they got 60 percent of the answers correct. A percent tells us a quantity. A percentile is a ranking.

A standards-based test tells teachers and parents if a student met the standard skills and knowledge expected for their grade. In the 1990s, Massachusetts developed state standards for each subject and the MCAS tested English Language Arts (ELA) and math, and later science.

The exam includes multiple-choice questions, short written answers and long essays. In math, students are required to show their work, that is, show how they got their answers. When the state MCAS tests were created as part of Massachusetts Education Reform in 1993, all students in fourth, eighth, and tenth grade had to take the tests. English learners had to take the MCAS if they had been in the U.S. for three years.

In 2002, the federal government established the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, signed by President George W. Bush and supported by the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and others.

It required state testing in grades three through eight and, again, in grade 10 in ELA and math. Individual student results are reported to parents and schools. Each school is issued an NCLB report card detailing how well student groups (by race, income, disability and English learners) and the school overall have made progress.

English learners must take the state exams after one year. Massachusetts MCAS tests are still standards-based, but more grades are tested and schools and districts are ranked, labeled and judged.

School Committees and especially the media are interested in comparing how districts perform on state tests, often asking: Are they at the top, the bottom, or in the middle of the state?

For example, a local superintendent has stated a goal for their middle and high school MCAS results to be in the top 10 percent of the state in five years. As a ranking, comparing the district to others, this is highly unlikely.

Here’s why. MCAS student results are reported at four levels: Advanced, Proficient, Needs Improvement or Warning (in 10th grade — failing). A school or district could have many students at the Advanced and Proficient levels. Another could have many students in the Needs Improvement and Warning categories.

When we rank schools and districts, someone must be at the top and others at the bottom. So, for example, even if every student in the state managed to score Advanced on the math test, if schools are ranked, someone will still be at the top, but a blue-collar town would not likely be in the top 10 percent.

The same would be true if all students in Massachusetts scored Needs Improvement on the MCAS. A more realistic, doable and authentic measure of the improving knowledge and skills of our students would be a goal for a school or district to increase the number of students achieving Advanced and Proficient and reduce the number of Warning/Failures. This would indicate actual growth, not just a ranked position in a list.

As long as districts are ranked and judged by the order of scores, someone must be at the top and others at the bottom.

Instead, let’s provide additional staffing, libraries, after school and summer support (using state and U.S. money committed for this) for the children. Let us enhance and underwrite the community support of local organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, Girls Incorporated, the Salvation Army, and the YMCA, who provided safe spaces for students to learn during the pandemic, and who continue to support our children.

It was timely to read The Daily Item editorial, “No homework, no deadlines? No problem,” reprinted on Nov. 20 from The Los Angeles Times, about efforts to introduce mastery-based education with less testing.

This approach asks students to demonstrate the skills they have mastered (rewritten essays, a revised project), since most of us will be judged on our final products in the adult world.

*”‘Best Schools’ lists are meaningless and could make segregation worse,” WBUR commentary by Jack Schneider, Assistant Professor of Education UMass/Lowell, October 19, 2021.