On Sept. 28, MCPS announced their plan to implement changes to the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) for Government and Science subjects, which the Maryland State Board of Education passed on July 25. The Office of Curriculum and Instructional Programs held a parent drop-in session on Oct. 24 to answer questions from the community.

MCAP plays a crucial role in assessing student progress on state content standards, including the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) and social studies assessments. The MCAP assessments align with state standards and will maintain their current length and question format, combining multiple-choice and constructed responses. AI resources will immediately score the tests to provide quicker digital results, but the test will still be supervised by administrators, Donna Blaney, the MCPS Supervisor for Testing and Reporting, said at the meeting. 

Students entering the ninth grade will experience alterations in the way their final grades are determined in high school-level biology and government courses. The assessment will account for 20% of a student’s second-semester grade in Biology, Honors Biology, Government and Politics and Honors Government and Politics classes.

Freshman Natalie Issac, who is taking Honors Biology this year, dislikes the new exams due to their potential to greatly affect students’ grades. 

“I think that it will impact our grades a lot, and it’s not fair if you do badly on just one quiz, and that one grade affects all the hard work you’ve done throughout the year,” Isaac said. “It shouldn’t affect your whole grade.”

MCPS will not require students to pass the exams to graduate, but they must pass the class to earn course credit. Students who fail the course and fail the end-of-course (EOC) exam must retake the course and exam, which will count as 20% of their final grade. The exam will be calculated into the second-semester final grade, which will now comprise the third quarter grade (40%), the fourth quarter grade (40%) and the MCAP exam grade (20%).

The exams measure student learning of core academic content in the respective subject areas. The changes aim to enhance the academic accountability and assessment of students in these subjects, according to the Maryland State Department of Education. 

The exams are available in Braille, Spanish, American Sign Language and large print. Students with learning disabilities may register to take alternative assessments. Students with IEP and 504 plans will take the EOC exam with accomodations unless they are registered to take the appropriate alternative assessments. Students taking the alternative assessment will not be required to count the exam for 20% of their final grade.

Honors Biology teacher Peyton Ford believes the new assessment will be beneficial in getting students ready for similar tests in college.

“I’m 110% behind any final exam; I think it increases the rigor of our school,” Ford said. “Our job is to prepare students for the future with exams and college.”