Education chief suggests a blend of assessment tests

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/10/20/chang-other-superintendents-tout-new-parcc-test/RVFnwTEQwjPya5muMlWHeL/story.html

Education chief suggests a blend of assessment tests
By Jeremy C. Fox Globe Staff October 20, 2015

MALDEN — A top education official, adding a new twist to the debate over whether the state should dump the MCAS in favor of new test, suggested Tuesday a “door number three” — a blend of both assessments that would raise standards and keep them under state control.

With a vote set for next month, Mitchell D. Chester, the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, told the education department’s board that rather than retaining the old test or replacing it with the controversial PARCC exam, the Commonwealth might develop an MCAS 2.0.

“MCAS, in its current version, has run its course,” Chester said in a phone interview. “It’s time to upgrade to a next-generation MCAS.”

For Chester, who heads the governing board developing PARCC, the move was a jarring shift.