Thursday, 4:30 PM
Ed boss: State should drop 10th grade MCAS
By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff
Massachusetts should scrap the 10th-grade MCAS tests and require sophomores to pass a tougher battery of tests that would give them entry to a public college or university in the state, Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll said Thursday.
Driscoll is promoting the change and a slew of others as part of his work on a national commission proposing an overhaul of the nation’s education system, state by state, by 2021.
The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, which included Thomas W. Payzant, former superintendent of Boston Public Schools, and Harry A. Spence, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, released wide-ranging recommendations to improve American education and better prepare students for college. The proposals come as Congress prepares to debate the reauthorization of the 2001 No Child Left Behind law next year.
Driscoll said he will begin describing his ideas for Massachusetts, which stem from the national panel’s work, at next week’s Board of Education meeting.
