Dr. Helga Einhorn, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction shared an update on the Maryland State Board of Education’s decisions regarding the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) with the Talbot County Board of Education at their March meeting.
There had been concern regarding administering mandated state testing given current limitations for in person learning. This included losing already limited instructional time to assessments, scheduling assessments given COVID safety protocols, and administering tests to virtual students. The school district has received notification of changes for administering assessments for the 2021-2022 school year from the State Board, which include the following.
- The English Language Arts and Math MCAP for grades 3-8 will not be administered this spring. These assessments will be postponed until fall 2021.
- The English 10, Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry assessments are still open for spring 2021. This is to accommodate the fact that some school districts had started testing students in these subjects prior to the March 4 State Board decision. These assessments will also be available for administration in the fall 2021. Since TCPS had not yet started testing, we will be opting to administer the assessments to students in these subjects in the fall.
- Alternative Assessments in math, ELA, and science in grades 3-8 and high school will not be administered this spring and will also be deferred until the fall.
The assessments administered in the fall will be of shorter duration and will have a quick turnaround time for scoring which would allow the data to be used for instructional planning. In addition to these changes, TCPS follow will the State Board’s consideration of shifting the current graduation exit assessments in Algebra, English, science, and government to end of course assessments that would be accounted for in students’ final course grades. This has gone out for public comment and Dr. Einhorn will continue to update the Talbot County Board as the State Board continues to deliberate that possible change.
“I do want to assure you that even though we are not administering MCAP this spring, we are continuing to administer our local assessments in all courses and grade levels,” said Dr. Einhorn. “This data is essential for helping teachers monitor student progress in meeting grade level and course standards as well as in the planning of instruction that supports student learning.”
While TCPS will not be administering MCAP this spring, they are proceeding with the ACCESS 2.0 administration this spring. TCPS is also moving forward with Advanced Placement testing and Career and Technology industry standard assessments and have administered the SAT and PSAT.
