Resolution on High School Diplomas and MCAS

Adopted by the Northampton School Committee,
February 13, 2003, by a vote of 6 in favor, 3 opposed.

1. Whereas the 1993 Education Reform Act of the General Laws of Massachusetts states that the system for determining academic competencies "shall employ a variety of assessment instruments... As much as is practicable, especially in the case of students whose performance is difficult to assess using conventional methods, such instruments shall include consideration of work samples, projects and portfolios, and shall facilitate authentic and direct gauges of student performance," and

2. Whereas the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test (MCAS test) does not support different styles of learning, communicating, or demonstrating student performance, and

3. Whereas the State Department of Education has put forth a policy that would deny high school diplomas to students who fail the MCAS test, regardless of their other academic achievements and competencies as demonstrated by other assessment instruments, and

4. Whereas there is no proven educational rationale for basing high school graduation on performance in a single, standardized test, regardless of how many times the test is administered, and

5. Whereas the denial of high school diplomas is a discriminatory consequence that will fall disproportionately upon those families who are too poor to send their children to private or parochial schools, and

6. Whereas the anticipated consequences of the MCAS test will harm students by increasing high school dropout rates, and

7. Whereas the MCAS test is not adequately sensitive to the circumstances of special education students, students entering the public schools from households that speak a first language other than standard English, and students whose immediate aims focus on employment rather than higher education, and

8. Whereas the Northampton School Committee previously adopted, in May 2000, a resolution expressing criticism of the MCAS graduation requirement, which resolution we hereby reaffirm, and

9. Whereas the MCAS graduation requirement degrades the educational process by promoting the teaching of test-taking techniques, discouraging creative teaching methods, and marginalizing subjects that are not on the MCAS tests, thus harming the education and future prospects, not just of those students who may fail the tests, but of all of our students, and

10. Whereas the Northampton School Committee is obligated to determine eligibility for a diploma by means of graduation requirements that are educationally sound, fair, and nondiscriminatory, and has developed our graduation requirements through a long process of careful preparation and has revamped our curriculum based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, and

11. Whereas the Northampton School Committee has the responsibility to award diplomas to students who have fulfilled local requirements for graduation in order to recognize their academic achievement and permit their further education and employment,

12. Be it resolved that the Northampton School Committee will continue to uphold the legal and educational standards established by the 1993 Education Reform Act, and

13. Be it further resolved that the Northampton School Committee continues to support testing when it is used as one of a variety of assessment instruments, and

14. Be it further resolved that the Northampton School Committee will continue to issue diplomas to Northampton High School students based on our High School Graduation Requirements alone, and without regard to scores achieved on MCAS tests, unless and until a court ruling is issued which requires that the Northampton School Committee comply with the Massachusetts Department of Education’s MCAS graduation requirement, and

15. Whereas we do not believe that there should be any penalty assessed on individual Northampton students by outside agencies as a result of school Committee policy or votes regarding MCAS tests or scores,

16. Be it further resolved that each student who receives a diploma from Northampton High School and who also satisfies the competency determination as determined by the Massachusetts Department of Education shall receive, in addition to a diploma, a certificate attesting to his or her attainment of the said competency determination, and

17. Be it further resolved that this resolution shall be communicated to the Northampton City Council, our representatives in the State House, and the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.