After another year of high math exam failure rates and with a new standardized test taking center stage, Board of Education President Patricia O’Neill says it’s time for MCPS to consider dropping some of its final exams.
O’Neill wrote a lengthy blog post on Monday outlining the issue. O’Neill and Board member Phil Kauffman also sent a memo last week to Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers asking him to consider exempting some students from countywide final exams in subjects where they also took one of the new state PARCC tests.
“Does it make sense for us to give a countywide final exam in the same high school subject where we give a PARCC test? And are we losing too much instructional time in the name of testing?,” O’Neill wrote Monday.
The PARCC tests, or Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, were rolled out for the first time this year, replacing the Maryland State Assessments in reading and math and the High School Assessments in Algebra 1 and English 10.
O’Neill and Kauffman asked about exempting those who had already taken either a PARCC or HSA test in Algebra 1, Algebra 2, English 10, Biology and National, State and Local Government from taking the corresponding county final exams in those classes.
“After speaking with Mr. Bowers, as well as principals and administrators, it does not appear practical to make such a change this year,” O’Neill wrote. “But he has assured me that staff will consider this change for the 2015-2016 school year.”
About 65 percent of MCPS high school students who took the county’s Algebra 1 final exam in January failed it. About 63 percent failed the Algebra 2 final exam.
“We do know that state testing impacts our schools for several weeks — schedules are rearranged, resources are stretched thin, and the whole process puts stress on our staff and our students,” O’Neill wrote. “With PARCC being given in two different sections, these types of disruptions will occur twice during the school year. Add national tests — like AP and IB — and local tests and quizzes, and it’s fair to ask if our students are being tested too much.”
She went on to write that the Board of Education, which hopes to have a new superintendent in place by July, will review all tests MCPS students take and “consider changes to our testing and grading policies and practices.”
Another option for some final exams could be to change how significant the exams are to a student’s grade.
The county final exams account for 25 percent of a grade, which means many students can pass the course easily without passing the final exam.
O’Neill does make clear that she believes in the PARCC exams and that “MCPS has done a good job implementing the new assessments,” which are taken online.
