Diplomas now within reach for some former students following scrapped MCAS mandate

Former students who completed high school but didn't earn a diploma because they could not pass the standardized exams can now retroactively earn that credential, says the state.

The decision follows voter approval of a measure to overhaul state graduation criteria last month.

Those former students must be "afforded a process" at the local level to earn their so-called "competency determination." "District processes must allow former students who satisfactorily completed the relevant coursework to earn a CD," says updated guidance released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education last week.

According to a DESE spokeswoman, the number of students statewide who met all local graduation requirements but failed to earn a diploma by not passing the MCAS exams hovers around 700 annually. That's about 1% of the total pool of high school finishers who graduate in four years.

Last month, voters approved a ballot initiative that eliminated the two-decades-old use of the MCAS as a high school "exit exam." The law takes effect with this year's graduating class. MCAS exams will still be administered for tracking progress and gathering data; passing them just won't be a pre-requisite to graduate.

In the wake of that change, the state education department has been issuing guidance to the roughly 300 local school districts on how to measure student "competency" to pass out of high school in the absence of a uniform assessment. Districts must certify whether students are eligible to graduate based on their successful completion of coursework that fulfills state academic standards in English, math and a science discipline, DESE instructs.

"Each school district would determine what coursework students pass that align with the standards," said Ed Lambert, executive director of the education policy group Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. "And the real challenge they’ll have with this retroactivity is going through the courses students took, in some cases many years ago, and figure out whether it’s aligned with the standards."

Still, some groups are commending the updated guidance from DESE. Leaders of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the group that spearheaded the ballot initiative, called it a "fair and just application of the graduation regulations following the passage of Question 2."

"Individuals without a high school diploma lack a basic credential that is necessary to pursue employment and educational opportunities," said teachers association president Max Page and vice president Deb McCarthy in a statement.

Right now, how districts will potentially provide a pathway to retroactive diplomas is an open question.

Mary Bourque, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, said her members "appreciate the information and rollout support" the education department is providing. " Districts with specific issues will be able to call the education department for a "one-to-one consult," she said

"Each district will have their own individual student status to address," she said.

Education advocates in some districts are hoping local officials act quickly to move on the guidance.

In Lawrence, 41% of high school test-takers in 2024 did not meet proficiency on the grade 10 math or English portions of the MCAS. Some students who otherwise finished all coursework but didn't earn a diploma may have gone on to earn a high school equivalency degree, or GED, said Jonathan Guzman, vice-chair of the school committee. He said he's heard of a few eligible students reaching out about how to obtain the high school credential — and what the process will entail.

" My hope is that we figure out something quickly and that we are brought into the discussion of doing this," he said. "But there's also a lot of uncertainty of what the local level is going to do and implement to make this an easy way."

While he said he appreciates the state guidance, Guzman also expressed a desire to see a more urgent directive from the state agency when it comes to retroactivity. "I wish there was more of a 'this is not an option' type of approach."

The state board of education is set to discuss the updated guidance at its next regular meeting on Tuesday.