School districts have two major tasks at hand.
They must work to ensure that the next group of students do better on next year's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests. And they must help the students who didn't do well last spring improve in subjects where they were weak. The goals are equally important, educators said. The fact is, they need to be proficient at the skills tested in English, math, and science and technology if they expect to compete in the next century. By the same token, the schools have an obligation to improve future performance by focusing on the students who will take these tests in the future.