School Committee approves competency standards for graduation in lieu of MCAS

By Neil Zolot

EVERETT – The School Committee approved competency standards for graduation for the Class of 2025 and all future graduating classes at their meeting on Monday, January 21. “The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) shifted the requirements to local districts for what a student will be required to complete to receive a High School diploma, in lieu of the state Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test formerly required,” Superintendent William Hart said in reference to voter approval of a November 2024 ballot question eliminating MCAS as a requirement for graduation.

In 2024, Everett voters followed state trends and approved eliminating it as a graduation requirement by a vote of 7,339 to 4,479. Both the School Committee and City Council had voiced their approval for eliminating MCAS as a graduation requirement earlier that fall.

“In the past students met competency standards by passing MCAS. Changes happened because of the referendum,” Assistant Superintendent for Teaching, Learning and Student Success Dr. Margaret Adams added in her explanation of the plan for the members. “It places responsibility for competency with the district. The district now has that responsibility and must certify meeting competency standards by satisfactorily completing coursework that would have been measured by MCAS. Competency can be achieved by satisfactorily completing coursework that has been created by a student’s district as showing mastery of state academic standards as measured by MCAS.”

In other words, Everett and other school districts will use the same areas covered in MCAS to determine competency and mastery of skills, but not requiring passage of MCAS to graduate High School, although some districts may. “MCAS has not been as equitable as we’d like; some people don’t do well in standardized tests,” Hart said. “This is returning to the basics of students being proficient in the subject areas in which they have been taught.”

Regardless, MCAS will still be taken by students and used for data, just not as a requirement for graduation. Data will still be used locally to determine curriculum updates, instructional approaches, student placement and interventions and supports. “There is a requirement we have accountability testing at various grades, so MCAS will still be used as a measure to determine if students are reaching proficiency,” Adams explained. “High School students will still be required to take MCAS as a measure, but not as a graduation requirement. Federal legislation says we have to have an exam that measures accountability and MCAS is how Massachusetts determines accountability” – 95% participation is a federal requirement and there is no “opt out,” but accommodations will remain for eligible students.

Passing grades must be achieved in Algebra 1 and Geometry, Sophomore English and Biology or Physics or equivalent courses as determined by the school principal. Grades and test results from a new student’s former district are applicable. Graduation requirements consist of four years of English, Math and Physical Education; three years of Science, two years of Social Studies and a year of Health.

There are procedures in place for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities or Complex and Significant Disabilities, a heading used in Adams’ presentation. “When the nature of and complexity of a student’s disabilities present significant barriers or challenges to standardized computer or paper-based testing, even with the use of accommodations, and the student is working at or close to grade level expectations, the student’s Individual Education Plan team may determine the student should participate in the grade level portfolio in one or more subjects,” it reads.

“It allows them to submit a portfolio in order to meet competency standards,” Adams elaborated. “It’s a very small group, but it’s important to provide them with a pathway to competency standards.”

An element of eliminating MCAS as a graduation requirement is allowing former students who did not pass MCAS in previous years to receive a High School diploma if it is determined they passed the coursework. “We would do a review if they met the criteria,” Adams explained. “If they were able to meet the criteria, they can get a High School diploma. They would be eligible if they met the graduation requirements to meet competency standards for a diploma.”

How many people will do that is hard, if not impossible, to determine, but Ward 4 School Committee member Robin Babcock said she is glad “a lot of people will have an opportunity to get a diploma after MCAS was a roadblock to their graduation.”

“It’s great we’ll offer diplomas to past students,” member At-Large Kristen Bairos added.

Elimination of MCAS as a graduation requirement leaves the state without a statewide competency standard, but the concept is a dubious one in a state with Lexington, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Newton, North Reading and Winchester, among other communities, at one end of the socio-economic scale and Brockton, Fall River, Lynn, New Bedford and Springfield at the other. An illustration of the problem is Everett being in an MCAS District Area Review Tool (DART) cohort with Brockton, Chelsea, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden and Revere, but also being in an Area Median Income cohort that includes similar communities like Malden and Medford, but dissimilar ones like Lexington, Newton, North Reading and Winchester, which skews the definition of affordable housing and, indirectly, the higher MCAS test scores found in more affluent communities, above the resources of Everett residents.

Governor Maura Healey is pursuing establishing a new and, hopefully, fairer standard. She has signed an Executive Order to establish a Massachusetts K-12 Statewide Graduation Council to be led by the Secretary of Education and Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. It will include a broad range of stakeholders, including students, parents/caregivers, educators, school counselors, labor, education advocacy organizations, higher education representatives, legislators and the business community and be tasked with making recommendations on how Massachusetts can ensure that all students graduate with the skills necessary to succeed in college, careers and civic life, regardless of their background or location, and demonstrate these qualities through a consistent statewide set of expectations.

“We expect there will be changes over time about competency,” Adams said. “We might need to make changes.”