Massachusetts voters agreed last fall to stop using the standardized tests known as MCAS as a high school graduation requirement. Now, the state is trying to work out what comes next.
The advocacy group Citizens for Public Schools has been holding a series of forums around the state to collect input from students, parents and educators on what students should know by the time they graduate.
Lisa Guisbond, the executive director of Citizens for Public Schools, said her group heard that high school graduates should have a wide range of skills, “most of which cannot be measured with a multiple-choice standardized exam like the MCAS.”
“People prioritized life skills such as critical thinking, communication, problem-solving, along with financial, media and digital literacy,” Guisbond said at a State House event Monday. “Civic knowledge and participation was another major priority that people spoke about.”
To assess that broad skillset, Guisbond and other advocates said school districts should be able to offer multiple different options for students to show that they’re ready to graduate.
Revere teacher Erik Fearing said performance-based assessments — like portfolio presentations and research projects — can inspire students.
“Not every grade 9 student is particularly fond of math class, but for years now, I’ve seen genuine joy as students approach challenges like writing their own business plan to present to a teacher ‘Shark Tank,’” Fearing said. “Instead of just identifying the slopes, intercepts and intersections from a word problem that I created, algebra students think through estimates and make assumptions to model costs and revenue based on their own individual ideas. The depth of their learning is plain to see when they talk about how raising the price of their headphones design changes the funding needed to get to the point of profitability.”
A 2024 ballot question, backed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, asked voters whether to scrap the requirement that students pass the 10th grade MCAS in order to graduate high school. The question, which passed 59-41, said that students would still need to pass coursework that meets state standards. It did not propose an alternative way of measuring readiness to graduate, nor did it block policymakers from creating one.
In January, Gov. Maura Healey created a 31-member commission to recommend a new statewide graduation requirement. Her executive order directs the panel to file an interim report by December.
Based on the graduation council’s work, the Healey administration last month published its “vision of a Massachusetts graduate,” outlining how high schools can prepare students for their next steps after graduation. The blueprint highlights skills around problem-solving, collaboration, self-awareness, communication and decision-making, as well as academic preparation.
At the time, Healey’s office said the council’s forthcoming recommendations will include “rigorous learning experiences and a mechanism to give the state confidence that all students are meeting these high expectations.”
Draft recommendations, as circulated recently by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, include a suggestion for “end-of-course assessments” in certain subjects, which would be “designed, administered and scored by the state.”
Speakers at the Citizens for Public Schools event pushed back at the suggestion of a new round of tests overseen by the state.
“Replacing MCAS with new end-of course exams will take us backward, as most folks here said,” said Suleika Soto, a parent of two Boston Public Schools students. “It would ignore the will of the voters and recreate the same high stakes and barriers that have failed so many of our students, especially those like my children learning English or living with disabilities.”
