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State modifies MCAS graduation policy
By Anne Marie Tobin and Gayla Cawley | May 4, 2020
The competency requirements that current high school seniors need to graduate have been modified temporarily by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
DESE commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley announced the temporary modifications last week.
Prior to COVID-19, high school students met the competency requirement by passing MCAS tests.
With the elimination of MCAS tests due to the pandemic, that requirement left some seniors who had not yet passed the tests in a state of limbo.
Under the temporary modification, seniors who have not passed one or more of the high school MCAS tests will now be able to earn the competency determination through successful completion of a relevant high school course.
The policy change applies to current seniors, as well as other actively enrolled students who were on track to graduate this spring,including those students taking summer classes.
Lynn Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler said he won’t know how many seniors will benefit from the new guidance from DESE until after Monday’s conference call with Riley, but that district guidance counselors have been working to determine who is eligible
Generally speaking, Tutwiler said the decision will benefit those who were unsuccessful with the March MCAS retest for English and mathematics, and the February retest for science.
“If you were unsuccessful with that, this decision would be very beneficial to you assuming that you passed the requisites,” said Tutwiler. “I think it’s fair and responsive. There still remains a lot of uncertainty, even as we look ahead to next year. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education can be creative and considerate.”
Lynnfield Superintendent Jane Tremblay said she believes, while the district does not have any students who will be affected by the change, the bigger issue is how this decision may impact the future.
“We are always looking to support our learners in any way that we can and this may open the door to conversations in the future about our accountability system,” said Tremblay. “We may have to rethink how we do business in our schools when this is all said and done.”
Saugus School Committee Chairman Tom Whittredge said that Saugus has only a few students who were in this predicament, but “it’s a handful too many.”
“I did get a few calls from parents asking what was going to happen with their kids and we had to just tell them to be patient until DESE came out with guidelines,” he said. “I’m glad the issue is resolved, but honestly, I have never been a fan of the MCAS tests as it puts too much pressure not only on kids, but on teachers. It takes an emotional and mental toll and wasn’t supposed to be this way. It was originally designed to tell the district what your strengths and weaknesses were, so I’m hoping that there is a lesson to be learned going forward and maybe the state will figure out that maybe we don’t need this kind of stressful testing at all.”
Peabody Assistant Superintendent and Peabody High Principal Chris Lord said he also welcomed the decision.
“We are grateful for this guidance on our seniors from the DESE, said Lord. “It really helps us with a handful of students since we can review their transcripts to be confident of their competency in ELA, Math and Science prior to graduation.”
For English language arts and mathematics, competency will be determined provided that the student earned credit this year for a course in the relevant subject matter. For students who were not taking a course in the needed subject area this school year, DESE will look to courses for which the student received credit in previous school years.
For science and technology/engineering, the student must also have demonstrated competency in one of the four tested disciplines (biology, chemistry, introductory physics, and technology/engineering in either the current school year or a prior school year.
Tutwiler broke it down in layman’s terms saying that if a student passes algebra and geometry, that would satisfy their math requirement. Passing English this year would satisfy the English requirement, while passing chemistry and biology would satisfy the science requirement, he said.
“I think this is a good thing for deserving members of the Class of 2020,” said Tutwiler.
DESE is still working out the details of this process and will share that information when it becomes available.