Board of education votes on new temp standards to replace MCAS graduation requirement
Photo | Courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts State House
The board of education voted 8-1 on Tuesday to approve new interim regulations overhauling the state's competency determination (CD) requirements for high school graduation — a temporary move to create uniform graduation standards after use of the MCAS exam was struck down by voters in the fall.
The new rules will require students, beginning with the class of 2026, to complete specific coursework in English language arts, math and science through grade 10. In 2027, U.S. history will be added to that list.
After voters in November eliminated the requirement that high school students pass the MCAS exam as a prerequisite to graduation, Gov. Maura Healey in January launched the Massachusetts K-12 Statewide Graduation Council and charged the group with "studying and making recommendations on a new statewide graduation requirement."
That 31-person group has until July 2026 to issue a final report on a new statewide high school graduation standard, which will then likely have to go through a legislative process. The graduation council had its third meeting Monday, five months after it was formed.
The regulations adopted Tuesday are meant to serve as a stand-in until a more permanent standard is adopted.
Vice Chair Matt Hills cast the lone dissenting vote, citing concerns over "the curriculum and grade framework, especially being the only option."
He added, "In a perfect world, the secretary and our new commissioner will make a recommendation at the end of the year, the Legislature will do — all that will happen. It's not hard for me to imagine the timing being such that we're talking potentially the middle of the next decade until an entire high school class is covered by the new policy ... My concern is it's not going to be interim for just a couple of years."
Board member Marty West voted in favor of the regulations but shared Hills' unease.
"It is deeply unsatisfactory to be developing a coursework-based graduation requirement under legislative language that requires us to focus only on content through grade 10," West said, and emphasized the need for swift legislative action.
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