Page 12 - BusinessWest October 28, 2024

EDITORIAL >>
Impact Comes in Many Forms
In 2018, BusinessWest launched a new recognition program,
one what would recognize the outstanding accomplishments of women across this region and tell stories that might otherwise go
untold.
Over the first six years of this program, we have done that just,
and this pattern continues with the class of 2024 — a very diverse group of eight women who have given back, and changed lives, in many different ways: by taking their business or nonprofit to new levels of success; by serving as a role model to others, but espe- cially women and girls; by mentoring others and helping them find direction and purpose in their lives; by persevering through adver- sity; by doing, well ... all of the above. They are:
• Alison Berman, council director of Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts, whose efforts to boost girls’ confidence and charac- ter have impacted not only thousands of program participants, but entire schools and communities;
• Dianne Fuller Doherty, co-founder of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts and former director of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center’s Regional Office, who has spent a lifetime not only being the 413’s biggest cheerleader, but tangibly improving its communities through a host of key leader- ship roles;
• JoAnne Finck, president of Friends of Cooley Dickinson, whose goal has always been to make a difference in the community
OPINION >>
and individual lives, and has found myriad roles through which to accomplish that;
• Kimberley Lee, chief of Creative Strategy and Development at MiraVista Behavioral Health Center, who has not only boosted the impact of numerous nonprofits, but has found many ways to help people, especially women, overcome barriers to self-sufficiency;
• Megan McDonough, executive director of Pioneer Valley Habi- tat for Humanity, whose work to advance homeownership in the region has improved the economic prospects for both individual families and the entire region;
• LaTonia Monroe Naylor, chief business educator at Monroe Naylor Consulting, LLC; and president and CEO of Parent Villages, who is not only helping entrepreneurs get their enterprises to the next level, but working on key issues of education and trauma resilience;
• Kristi Reale, partner at Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C., whose reputation as a local leader in her industry extends not only to her clients, but the many young people, especially young women, she has mentored; and
• Dr. Shirley Jackson Whitaker, a nephrologist and artist who brought lessons in patient histories and healing to her latest role, as the producer of an important, moving documentary about one of America’s deep, unhealed wounds.
Congratulations to the Women of Impact class of 2024. BW
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Businesses Need Educated Workforce
BY EDWARD LAMBERT
Voters across the Commonwealth will decide on Nov. 5 wheth- er to keep the MCAS as a high-school graduation require- ment or to toss it without any real replacement that will ensure a high-school diploma actually means something in Massa- chusetts. Springfield’s business community must stand up and take notice.
While it is never a good time to lower standards, doing so when we are facing increasing national and international pressure to maintain our state’s economic competitiveness would be misguided at best and foolish at worst. The MCAS requirement not only helps strengthen our public education system, but also helps prepare our future workforce and improves our ability to attract and retain tal- ent from our own backyard.
As part of the Knowledge Corridor, Springfield and its surround- ing area host many colleges and universities. Education-adjacent jobs drive much of the city’s employment opportunities. Addition- ally, Baystate Health’s corporate offices operate out of Springfield. Other healthcare facilities, including Mercy Medical Center, bolster the area’s healthcare employment market.
Still, even with the city’s reliable employment industries, the overall employment rate is dismal, with 8.7% of Springfield residents facing unemployment, a leap above the national 5.3% average.
A well-rounded education can counter that. Now more than ever, Springfield needs an educated workforce to capitalize on the robust education, financial, and healthcare jobs that have long sus- tained the community. Requiring a passing MCAS score ensures public schools are producing graduates with the knowledge and skills needed for success in these markets.
MCAS data helps address and combat the inequities in our school systems that stunt student growth. Without it, we cannot accurately determine which students need the most support.
Question 2 states that, instead of passing the MCAS, students would be required to complete coursework certified by a student’s district as “demonstrating mastery of the competencies contained in the state academic standards.” While this language suggests that
the state standards will still apply, as we’ve learned from our teach- ers in our high-school statistics and research courses, if you don’t have uniformity in how you assess something like achievement, then you don’t have a single standard. Only a common assessment can assure that.
In spite of some concerns raised when the MCAS graduation requirement went into effect, graduation rates eventually went up, dropout rates went down, and student achievement increased for all groups of students, leading Massachusetts to its first-in-the- nation status. Establishing a single, statewide standard for gradua- tion has been central to that success.
If Question 2 passes, interpretation of the standards and wheth- er they have been met will vary from district to district, school
to school, and even within schools. In fact, just look at recent research and reports of grade inflation through and since the pandemic that has been detrimental to students, leading them to believe, incorrectly, that they are ready for college or a career.
Since the business community relies on an educated work- force to grow and compete in the 21st century, we must vote no on Question 2 and support targeted investments in our school system, including access to internships and other workforce opportunities.
As it stands, the MCAS remains the best barometer for deter- mining whether or not students are learning at grade level. It shows where we’ve helped our students and where we’ve failed them. If we are dismayed by declining or stagnant test results, we shouldn’t tear up the test just because we don’t like what it reveals.
If our schools’ curriculums meet the same standards mandated by the state, our students should be able to pass the MCAS. If they aren’t, we should use the results to improve their performance and prepare them for a successful college and career path. BW
Edward Lambert is executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, a nonprofit organization
of employers created to promote improvement in public education. He is also a former mayor and school committee member in Massachusetts.
12 OCTOBER 28, 2024
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