State delays debut of MCAS history exam by 2 years

MALDEN - Andrew Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Franklin D. Roosevelt will have to wait for a place in the state's 10th-grade MCAS exams, after the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education decided yesterday to delay the history test's premiere as a high school graduation requirement.

The board voted 8 to 2 to put off the exam for at least two years because of concerns that state budget cuts would leave the agency without enough money to administer the test. They also questioned the wisdom of asking local school districts to do more at a time when cuts threaten their ability to comply with other state and federal mandates.

The vote followed a recommendation by Commissioner Mitchell Chester, who emphasized that the agency was not watering down standards and remained committed to developing the test.

"I have not come to this decision lightly," Chester said. Later, he added: "We are heading into tough waters fiscally in the state over the next several years. To me, it's a matter of fairness."

This year's ninth-graders would have been the first class required to pass a US history exam in order to graduate, and were scheduled to take the test at the end of next school year.

Now, under the change approved yesterday, this year's seventh-graders would become the first class required to pass the exam. But the board left open the possibility that it could waive that class, along with subsequent ones, from the requirement should fiscal conditions not improve quickly enough.

The history exam would have been the latest component to the more than 10-year-old test. This year's high school juniors must pass a new science exam along with the English and math tests. After the addition of the science exams, the MCAS passing rate declined for the first time since the MCAS became a graduation requirement earlier this decade.

Testing student knowledge in US history enjoys strong support from MCAS advocates as well as social studies teachers. They are concerned that a failure to include that subject on MCAS tests could diminish the importance of the subject because schools tend to devote their resources to areas covered by the exam. Several supporters pleaded with the board against a delay yesterday.

In an interview after the meeting, Jamie Gass, director of the Center for School Reform at the Pioneer Institute, expressed disappointment.

"There is no question a working knowledge of US history is part of the civic principles that bind the country together," Gass said. "If students don't understand history, how will they appreciate the significance of events, such as President Obama's inaugural address?"

Others, however, said the delay comes as a much-welcome relief to financially strapped districts as well as students who are still adjusting to the new science exam. They doubted the delay would lessen the importance of the subject because many schools require students to pass a US history class to graduate.

"I think for students who are living in an extraordinarily stressful time, it will mean one less level of additional stress," said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. "The board made a gutsy move."

Secretary of Education Paul Reville said in a statement that he supported the delay. "During this difficult time, we need to do everything we can to ensure that we are targeting state dollars in ways that have the greatest impact on our children," he said.