Pushing Back MCAS Dates
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Secretary Reville (and DESE Board Member)
Maura Banta, DESE Board Chairperson
Harneen Chernow, DESE Board Vice Chairperson
Sample Emails
Sample 1:
In the interest of quality education for the children in the Springfield Public Schools, DESE should do what is right and just for them. Students in the Springfield Public Schools deserve the same amount of quality teaching and learning time as the students in districts who have not faced what our students have (tornado, hurricane, and October snowstorm).
Going from January to April without a break, which other communities will have, will also create a negative impact on the quality of teaching and learning time as well as students’ concentration and retention. The only way to do what is right and just for our students is to move the MCAS testing schedule back (from the March through April testing period to an April through May testing period).
Sample 2:
I am writing to you regarding the students of the Springfield Public Schools, where extreme weather conditions have forced the school district to close numerous times already this year, with the winter weather only beginning to descend on the state.
Springfield Public Schools have had 9 closures this MCAS testing year. These are days where students are not receiving quality learning time with their teachers. The students of Springfield, like many students in the cities and towns of Western Massachusetts, are two weeks behind their peers. Teachers need to be able to make up this lost time, cover the necessary material, and ensure their students are caught up before they take the MCAS exams.
For this reason, I am asking you to consider pushing back the MCAS examination schedule for those school districts which have lost considerable learning time already this year and only stand to lose more as winter sets in. Students in Springfield have been forced to deal with a June tornado, a July microburst, an August hurricane, and an October snow storm which left the region without power for a week. It is important to give our students the opportunity to perform as well as the rest of the students in the state who have experienced far less time out of the classroom.