Starting fall 2024, the Government Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) and Biology Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA), mandatory tests that go towards graduation credits, become 20% of students’ grades. The confusion and concern of both students and teachers about this change is immense.
Linganore High School (LHS) biology teacher Elizabeth Ericsson does not agree with the change regarding the MISA. “I am not a super big fan of it being 20% of students’ grades because I don’t believe it tests students’ knowledge of biology, but more their reading skills,” Ericsson said.
Evidently the MISA spends more time having students read articles then applying their knowledge of biology.
Ericsson fears that in the future she will have to make dramatic changes to the curriculum to focus more on reading, and translating graphs than previous school years. Making these changes might mean less time for hands-on activities (Labs).
On the other hand, Marcy Emmerick, a social studies teacher of 12 years, who teaches government at LHS, understands the purpose more. “I understand the purpose of accountability, but I also don’t know if that’s the best way to judge what a student has learned in a government class,” Emmerick said.
One of Emmerick’s biggest concerns is that the teachers do not know exactly what to try to prepare their students for. “I think teachers would like more guidance on what the test looks like and how it will be tested, because sometimes we’re a little blind or the standards are vague and sometimes we get surprised by some of the questions that are getting asked and I don’t think that should happen,” Emmerick said.
In terms of changes made in her classroom to prepare students for the MCAP, Emmerick teaches multiple test taking strategies and provides practice questions. She also believes that it is important for students to learn test taking strategies for future tests that they may encounter in the future.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, many students have stronger thoughts on this change. LHS (grade) Lyric Allen took both the MCAP and MISA in the same semester.
“There was a lot of stress involved,” Allen said. “The impact on my grade had me worried about my grades more than usual.”
Many students have felt the same stress over the tests. Both tests happen on the same days, meaning some students, like Allen, go from one test to another, spending around 3 hours taking tests that can change their grades drastically.
Another impact the test has is when the students receive their report cards. Due to the fact that tests are 20% of the students’ grades and are taken at the end of the semester, many students don’t get their report cards when their fellow classmates do. The time it takes to get the results from the exams back does not align with the time students are supposed to receive their report cards.
Due to this, some parents believe that their kids are hiding their report cards. Allen said that her parents believed she was hiding her report card because she got bad grades. This may not seem like a monumental thing to some people, but for adults who believe their child is hiding it, they may penalize the kid for something they have no control over.
A Frederick County Public School (FCPS) email went out claiming that report cards will be “distributed approximately two weeks after the advertised report card distribution date.” This timeline was not followed and the report cards have been missing for three weeks after the normal distribution date. It seems the report cards might not come in for a while longer.
In general, while students see the new test as unpleasant and unwelcome, even the teachers must admit it is not the best way to test the knowledge students gain during the government and biology classes.
