Latest news with #MassachusettsBoardofEducation
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
State officials weigh options to replace MCAS
BOSTON (WWLP) – The Massachusetts Board of Education met on Tuesday to work on a new set of regulations to ensure all Massachusetts high school graduates have hit their learning benchmarks. Education Board inches toward vocational school reforms Students in Massachusetts high schools will still take the MCAS, but it will no longer determine whether they are able to graduate. Instead, each student will need to meet certain competency benchmarks in areas like English and math. The Board of Education is still working on how to define 'competency' to make sure students are held to the same standard. The State is also considering adding additional competency areas–such as US and world history–but is adamant that the MCAS will not be replaced by another test, but instead by coursework and teacher recommendations. According to the board's vice chair Matt Hills, almost 1,500 current high school seniors have failed to pass the MCAS AND coursework requirements. 'We have a really immediate problem, to stick that requirement in front of a student in the middle of grade 12 is problematic at best. I don't even know how a district deals with it,' Hills said. As of now, one solution the board is considering is issuing waivers to current high school seniors to allow them to graduate as the state continues to work out new regulations. The board expects to present its first set of new regulations as early as next month, with the hopes of having the requirements apply to the graduating class of 2026. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
