25-02-2025
State education board weighing minimum coursework requirements
BOSTON (SHNS) – The Massachusetts Board of Education could advance draft regulations Tuesday in response to a voter-approved law that removed the requirement that students to pass the MCAS exam to graduate.
The board is considering measures to clarify and streamline language that was written by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and approved by voters, by specifying minimum requirements of coursework students must still pass to earn the so-called competency determination (CD) to get state approval to earn a diploma.
The voter law turned most decisions about whether a student graduates back to local districts. However, it maintained a statewide CD, leaving it to the state to draft regulations about what exactly it would look like for the state to certify that a student was eligible to graduate without a standardized assessment.
The law uses language such as 'showing mastery' and 'satisfactorily completing coursework.' Education Commissioner Russell Johnston wrote in a memo that the department drafted regulations to define the terms.
The new regulations specify that for English language arts, a student must 'satisfactorily complete coursework' in the equivalent of two years of high school English courses. For math, they must complete either Algebra I and geometry courses, or Integrated Math I and Integrated Math II.
In science, a student would have to finish coursework in one year of biology, one year of physics, one year of chemistry, or one year of a technology or engineering course.
The voter law also left wiggle room for the state board to add additional areas to the CD. The regulations they will vote on Tuesday would add United States history to the requirements beginning with the graduating class of 2027.
Additionally, the draft regulations attempt to address procedural legal issues, such as removing references to students needing a qualifying score on the MCAS assessment from current regulations.
One of the objectives of the ballot campaign was to give more power to the school districts to determine whether a student was eligible for a diploma.
Some are considering still using the MCAS, which is still administered statewide even though it isn't used for a graduation standard, for their locally-approved graduation requirements. The Frontier Regional School District, which serves Conway, Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately, is among those considering this option.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has said this would be allowed under the new law.
The amended regulations also offer up an option for students to take the MCAS to meet the CD under certain 'limited circumstances,' according to Johnston's memo.
'Some students who enroll in high school may not have a traditional transcript of their prior courses and grades. For example, some students may have been previously homeschooled or may have arrived from another state or country,' he wrote.
In these circumstances, a student could pass the CD by getting a qualifying score on the MCAS, or by meeting the academic standards for an equivalent that the district certifies. This section also allows the DESE commissioner to waive a provision of the regulations for 'good cause,' upon a written request from a district.
A local district's governing board would need to approve their new CD policy, under the regulations. Districts also have to make those policies available to the public online and submit them to the department. DESE plans to audit the quality of district CD policies, it adds.
The board's Tuesday vote could open a public comment period that would end on April 4, with a final vote for approval anticipated on May 20.
The regulations will amend current DESE guidelines, but Gov. Maura Healey also signed an executive order in January to create a council tasked with coming up with a new permanent statewide standard.
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