Malden School Committee accepts provisions for new competency determination policy

Local initial policy must be in place by end of calendar year in conjunction with new state requirements, which replace MCAS testing mark

By Steve Freker

The Malden School Committee voted unanimously Monday night to accept the guidelines for a new competency determination policy for students in their graduation year. The members unanimously accepted the report of the Policy & Procedure Subcommittee. Voting in favor were members Michael Drummey, remotely (Ward 1), Robert McCarthy Jr. (Ward 2), Dawn Macklin, remotely (Ward 4), Elizabeth Hortie (Ward 5), Joseph Gray, remotely (Ward 6), Keith Bernard (Ward 7) and Sharyn Rose-Zeiberg (Ward 8).

Rose-Zeiberg led the Policy & Procedure Subcommittee, which came up with the policy particulars, with local reviews mandated to be in place by the end of this month according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) .

The DESE Competency Determination is Massachusetts’ new high school graduation requirement, replacing the MCAS test, where students demonstrate skills through coursework (English, Math, Science, History) and portfolios, rather than just a single test score, ensuring readiness for college/career, with specific course/standard requirements evolving for graduating classes starting in 2026 and 2027.

Ward 8’s Rose-Zeiberg told the School Committee that DESE is requiring that plans for assessments (tests in subject matter) and portfolios must be in place by May 2026 for use by seniors in the Class of 2027 as essentially a pilot and that the subcommittee will be continuing its work on the task through the first half of 2026. The timeline set by DESE includes various milestones along an up to three-year path all the way for students in the Class of 2030, when the complete program is expected to be in place. “That’s a lot [of work] ahead of us, but it is clear we have time to work on this [plan],” Rose-Zeiberg said.

The graduation requirement competency requirements are a replacement for the previous barometer, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). For over 30 years, Massachusetts students were required to pass the MCAS test in English Language Arts and Mathematics as a high school graduation requirement.

Despite the fact that Massachusetts for many of those years was ranked either #1 in the nation or in the top 3 nationally in overall high school competency performance — largely, experts say, driven by the MCAS testing — a rally to end MCAS testing was successful at the polls in the November 2024 state election. One of the key claims by opponents of the MCAS, which were strongly supported by the Massachusetts Teachers Union (MTA), was that the graduation requirement created inequities and disproportionately affected students of color, low-income students, English Language Learners and those with disabilities. But it was countered by most Massachusetts school administrators, superintendents and also state lawmakers, who pointed to the success the MCAS testing had in steering state academic success to national prominence as well as the fact that less than 1% of the average 75,000 senior high school graduates statewide did not achieve a diploma — initially — due to a failed MCAS.

Here in Malden, the number was zero as to those not receiving a diploma due to MCAS results in nearly every year — if the student was cooperative as to post-high school offerings — as Malden High School administrators and guidance staff worked with every student facing this issue to ensure they had ample opportunities to retake and pass the MCAS and get that diploma, if they were so willing. Most of Malden High School base course requirements already in place mirror or exceed what DESE has established for high school seniors to achieve in order to be able to graduate.

Rose-Zeiberg described what her subcommittee extrapolated from the new DESE requirements: the framework for a local plan to provide means of appeal by students to make a case for alternatively fulfilling the combined local and state competency requirements. “Some of these appeals would be made by English learner students and those with disabilities, and we are working to be prepared for those situations and scenarios,” Rose-Zeiberg said.

Upon questioning from Ward 5 Committee member Elizabeth Hortie on the potential appeals process, Assistant Superintendent Komal Bhasin came to the podium and explained a two-pronged method of keeping available to students and their families to demonstrate competency. “Students who believe they are on track and have demonstrated they probably are on track, will be able to show it with equivalent coursework,” Assistant Superintendent Bhasin explained. “Ideally they are doing that junior year. In their senior year might be in a similar situation and may make an appeal.

“Again, they could go the way of demonstrating equivalent coursework or maybe they put together a portfolio, which would provide a portfolio to show mastery of the coursework,” Bhasin added.