Subject: Science
Grade Level(s): 5, 8 – 12
Measures Growth: No
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The MCAS is the Massachusetts end-of-year assessment for grades 3rd-12th, including tests for ELA, math, science and technology and social studies. The test includes multiple choice, open response and written composition components. Science and technology are tested at grades 5, 8, and high school (in biology, physics, chemistry, and technology/engineering).
Pros: Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Not aligned to the standards I teach • Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
The Science MCAS in grade 5 assesses student learning in science from Grades 1-5...completely unfair to the students and the teachers, and is more fact/jeopardy based in nature. Space science is not in the BPS curriculum at all and always appears on the MCAS, so a review unit must be taught. Fifth grade has enough heavy lifting with ELA, Mathematics, our own Science, and History/SS standards plus preparing students for the transition to middle school without having to review 4 years of students' science learning from age 6!
Submitted by Jennifer in Massachusetts on May 19, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer • Data is presented clearly
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
It takes several months for results to be returned and then not until I have a new group of students in the next school year. In addition, MCAS science tests are given only toward the end of 5th and 8th grades; this leaves no opportunity for 6th or 7th grade students and teachers to get an idea of their students' progress or effectiveness. Further, the test given at the end of 8th grade assesses students on content from 6th, 7th and 8th grades, leaving one teacher responsible for preparing students on 3 years' worth of material, and placing a huge pressure on students to bring a lot of content knowledge to one test.
Submitted by Laura in Massachusetts on April 24, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level • Takes students too long to complete
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
The test really seems to be fair only for the most average students.
Submitted by Jennifer in Massachusetts on April 21, 2013
Cons: Not aligned to the standards I teach • Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level • Takes students too long to complete
Cons: Difficult to administer • Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
USELESS. Teachers should not spend years teaching to the test for it then to be completely changed and most likely it will be even worse than it is right now.
Submitted by S. in Massachusetts on April 18, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Cons: Difficult to administer • Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
I teach the standards assessed by the MCAS because I am forced to, in order to have students graduate. Unfortunately, when these standards were released, they removed some of the best material, and instead focus on units that are difficult to comprehend, are not hands on, and have very little real world application.
Submitted by Ann in Massachusetts on April 11, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level • Takes students too long to complete
Cons: Difficult to administer • Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
The questions on the test sometimes contain bias. The subject of Science (especially high school biology) is so broad that one test does not truly measure the content knowledge they have gained or the skills they have learned throughout the year.
Scores on the test take too long to come back - and they should not be used to measure the effectiveness of one school and or teacher
Submitted by Morgan in Massachusetts on April 10, 2013
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level • Takes students too long to complete
Cons: Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
This exam has ruined the subject of biology and students begin to hate science as a result. There is so much marterial on teh exam - it is a measure of how much tehy can memorize in one year. As a result of this exam most biology teachers have had to remove labs and kids now spend all class memorizingg power points. It is a topical test - it does not assess growth over time like math or english and it is not fair for the students to be forced to cram for this.
Submitted by Anita in Massachusetts on April 10, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Cons: Difficult to administer • Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
The Science MCAS is divided into a myriad of categories. Each individual MCAS contains a range of standards given by the state. Most questions assume that students have had a year of intense instruction and have mastered ALL of the standards.
This is not true nor is it feasible. Teachers who try to cover critical thinking and student-designed projects find themselves falling behind on standards, and student test scores suffer. Students who are ELLs are at an EXTREME disadvantage due to the vocabulary. Teachers such as myself in an underfunded district are at a further disadvantage as we take time to deal with social justice issues which may not be part of the state mandated curriculum.
Add to that the extreme "Pass or Be Retained" high-pressure testing environment... and it is disgusting. It is not a useful test for the students or for me. And, as an additional perk, all the data is given long after the students take it, making it USELESS for altering instruction for individual cohorts of students.
Submitted by James in Massachusetts on April 9, 2013
Cons: Not aligned to the standards I teach • Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level • Takes students too long to complete
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
I find this test to take too much time out of my school year in preparation and time. Questions are worded to intentionally confuse and frustrate all but the highest achieving students. Having sat through a Mass. Dept. of Ed. training on how the Long Comp is scored, they spent an inordinate amount of time telling us there was no particular style or format the essays should take, and then in the same breath told us exactly what style and format the reviewers were looking for.
The sooner public education rids itself from these so called "assessments," the sooner teachers can go back to focusing on educating our students with worthwhile content.
The best form of assessment that I have come across tat truly focuses on an individual's growth is portfolio based. If the DESE could comprehend that a series of smaller assessments spread out over the course of a year, rather than a 2-3 day intensive test that takes hours to administer and complete, we would finally have a useful tool to determine a students growth and abilities.
Submitted by David in Massachusetts on April 9, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer • Data is presented clearly
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time
MCAS questions are great to use as assessments after lessons. The MCAS on the whole has potential but seems to have a different emphasis every year.
Submitted by Gene in Massachusetts on May 3, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer • Data is presented clearly • Data I receive helps me understand where I am teaching well and where I need to improve
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time
ithink the MCAS has improved over the years and is a quality assessment.I also firmly believe that we need multple Modalities of assessment to truelly see student growth
Submitted by diana in Massachusetts on April 5, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
Other cons:
Doesn't value any teaching of historical context of scientific discovery; Instead mostly tests mathmatical underpinnings.
Some of the questions refer to information that relies on student having a certain cultural/socio-economic background; this generally does not favor student who live in urban areas and students from poor backgrounds.
Submitted by Elizabeth in Massachusetts on April 5, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Data is presented clearly
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time
Many MCAS questions assess the core facts and knowledge students need to know. It does not assess of students' ability to DO science.
Submitted by Erin in Massachusetts on April 5, 2012
Cons: Not aligned to the standards I teach • Does not assess higher-order thinking
Cons: Difficult to administer • Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
Quite possibly the biggest waste of time on learning and taxpayer monies. Many questions are bias towards certain populations and do not reflect the curriculum or standards. The amount of time spent teaching to this test and administering the exam is a waste. The students in general lack common deductive reasoning skills because they are constantly thinking there is a 'right' answer. As an instructor of a creative discipline, I can see a direct correlation between the MCAS and the lack of innovative unique problem solving. Students just want to 'know the right answer', even when it is an opinion based question. Often when asked "what is your opinion on ____?" the students will say "I don't know what I should say...". They've really lost their independent problem solving skills through this exam.
Submitted by Al in Massachusetts on February 13, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses a range of students, including those from far below to far above grade level • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking
Pros: Easy to administer • Data is presented clearly • Data I receive helps me understand where I am teaching well and where I need to improve
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time
The high school-level subject specific science MCAS exams are not intended to measure growth but instead to measure students' knowledge in a specific science course. It is a summative exam of a year-long course and to that end, is a useful measurement of student achievement, but not growth.
Submitted by Karen in Massachusetts on February 13, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer • Data is presented clearly
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
The current science MCAS exam is limited in its scope to meaningfully assess scientific skills. The main focus of the test is an assessment of knowledge retention. Science should be taught and assessed in a way that demonstrates scientific skills: thinking creatively; collecting, recording, and analyzing data; developing, designing, and executing experiments; and the ability to connect concrete concepts to the world in a meaningful way. The MCAS is aligned to the standards that I teach because success on the test dictates that certain concepts must be taught in a very specific way. The MA science standards are specific and detailed causing teachers like me to feel restricted. I repeatedly ask myself, "Do I have the kids perform an inquiry-based investigation or do I teach them the concepts with interactive materials." When I choose the inquiry-based option I have to be aware that the students may or may not know the specific details of the content that the MCAS will test them on, even though they have gained scientific thinking skills. I would like to see scientific skill building standards that allow teachers to let students do experiments without too much stress focused on whether they have memorized a specific content driven standard at the same time. Students need to learn how to do science so that it is meaningful to them and not just a list of concepts they need to memorize. Additionally, the scienc MCAS does not provide effective feedback because elementary science students only take the test in the 5th and 8th grade. This puts a lot of pressure on teachers and students alike. A test that was more focused on scientific processes would be more informative because it would be less about retention and more about HOW the students think and perform scientifically.
Submitted by Brenna in Massachusetts on February 13, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking • Assesses a range of students, including those from far below to far above grade level • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Takes students too long to complete
Pros: Easy to administer • Helps me track my students' learning gains over the course of the school year • Data is presented clearly • Data I receive helps me understand where I am teaching well and where I need to improve
Cons: Results are not returned quickly
It helps mandate what teachers are teaching in the classroom. I feel it can be a consistent assessment as long as teachers do not assist students when administering the test.
Submitted by D in Massachusetts on February 13, 2012
Pros: Assesses higher-order thinking
Cons: Not aligned to the standards I teach • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
While I do believe that there should be assessments for each content area, it is asking a lot for our 8th grade students to recall three years of science content. Many of the questions are really testing what a student can remember. It's unfair.
Furthermore, ELA and Math gets extra attention (more classroom hours, interventions, and smaller class sizes) in my school and the attitude among students is that "science doesn't count." It's no wonder students believe this if that is the message they are receiving from above.
Finally, our district does not supply teachers with Engineering curriculum, which is an area that is heavily tested on the MCAS. We are expected to somehow squeeze that in. I don't mind writing curriculum but how much can we squeeze in? It's challenging enough to get through three units a school year without ever actually teaching once concept well before being forced by a pacing calendar to move onto something new.
Submitted by Valerie in Massachusetts on February 13, 2012
Pros: Assesses higher-order thinking • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Not aligned to the standards I teach • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer • Data is presented clearly
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
I work in SEI and special ed. It is a joke to expect my students to pass this test with the breadth of questions presented. There is just not time to thoroughly learn all topics covered, and to weight the test differently every time it's given - this time they went for genetics, this time they stressed evolution, etc. - makes a it a crapshoot. It would be nice to go with one core topic each semester and be confident that the kids learned SOMETHING, but this test then might completely miss that if the couple of things we learned well are underrpresented on the next test.
I don't really think the 'higher order thinking' questions really push the students very far, but at this point, I'm grateful that they are as scaffolded as they are because they give the students a chance to say SOMETHING they might know.
Submitted by Leilani in Massachusetts on February 13, 2012
Pros: Assesses higher-order thinking
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Cons: Difficult to administer • Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
I am a special needs teacher. Some of my students take and pass the MCAS. Others, well, they may never be able to pass. Unfortunately, the test does not allow me to show the gains these students make. Those who cannot even read the directions are judged on their higher order thinking? Really? I've wasted hundreds of hours in training, testing, reviewing, compiling, and looking at data. All that time could have been used to teach the kids who are struggling. This test tells me NOTHING about these kids. What a colossal waste of money, time, talent, and productivity.
Submitted by Michael in Massachusetts on February 13, 2012
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