A new MCPS policy is coming into place this school year. Beginning with the current freshmen class, students in biology and government classes will be required to take the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment for a grade. The MCAP score will count as 20% of the students’ overall semester B grades.
Passing these assessments will not be a graduation requirement. However, passing the courses is required and the MCAP will now have a large impact on the course grade. With the MCAP accounting for 20% of the semester two grade, marking period three and four grades count as 40% of the total grade in those classes.
The purpose of the policy, according to the MCPS website, is to separate the results of the exam from a student’s ability to graduate. Research has shown that high stakes exams like the MCAP have a greater negative impact on students who are economically disadvantaged or of color. MCPS hopes that by removing the exam from the graduation requirements, they will help solve this problem.
Another reason for the policy change is that a student’s grade in a course has been shown to correlate to success in college and careers, more than standardized tests. “I think that how I do over the entire school year is a lot more representative of my abilities than an exam I take for a few hours one day,” junior Matthew Zhang said.
The implementation of this policy is not popular among all students. “This puts a lot of pressure on the exam in my opinion. It seems like it is still essentially a graduation requirement because it’s such a large chunk of the grade,” freshman Dylan Neustadt said.
Students will have to review heavily for the exam as it covers the whole curriculum. “That really concerns me because biology and government are both heavy courses. There is a lot to look over and I think it will be a very stressful time of the year,” Neustadt said.
The announcement of the exam policy has raised questions among students about their ability to retake it. The MCPS website stated that the exam is not retakeable and the effect it has on your grade is not reversible.
One exception listed on the new policy is for students in AP Government (NSL). Students who take the AP exam for this course are exempt from taking the additional assessment. This also means that their grade in the course will not incorporate the 20% from the assessment.
The AP Government exemption could influence students’ decisions on what classes they take. “The new policy is making me rethink what my plan is for classes next year. In biology I’ll have to take the exam this year but maybe not in government. I am in U.S. history right now so If I have to take a year-long exam next year in government anyways, it may be worthwhile to take the AP exam instead,” freshman Casen Linn said.
Whatever your views are on the new policy, it will clearly be impactful going forward. “Overall I think I have mixed feelings. Even though it’s not a graduation requirement, it still feels important because of its impact on my grade. But I can understand why they (MCPS) did it,” Neustadt said.
