Advocates express optimism over Healey's move to devise new high school graduation rules

Educators and business leaders praised Gov. Maura Healey's move to set up an advisory board to recommend new high school graduation requirements.

The governor signed the executive order Friday to create the K-12 Statewide Graduation Council, which would deliver its proposals to the Healey administration and state legislators by the end of the year.

Healey's order comes just months after voters last November scrapped a mandate that high schoolers pass the 10th grade MCAS — a series of controversial statewide standardized tests — to receive their diplomas. The vast majority of students pass the exams. This year's graduating seniors will be the first class to graduate without the mandate.

Critics of the rule change, including Healey, were concerned school districts would set far different graduation rules and diminish the value of a diploma. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) quickly issued some interim guidance to districts.

“Massachusetts has the best schools in the country, and we want to stay that way,” she said in a statement Friday. “To keep this high standard of excellence, I believe that students, families, schools and employers should know exactly what a diploma earned in Massachusetts represents.”

Seeing this as an opportunity to re-envision the meaning of a high school education, some advocates said they were encouraged by Healey's push for new statewide standards.

“Voters didn’t want students to be measured by one single item or assessment,” said Ed Lambert, president of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. “I think this is an opportunity for us to finally advance some of the educational initiatives we have been advocating for for years,” such as expanding vocational education, early college, capstone projects and “real world” experiences.

The advisory board will convene regional listening sessions to solicit feedback from the public.

Leaders from the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union and the leading force behind the MCAS ballot measure, applauded Healey's move.

In a statement, they said they were “encouraged” to see a “public process for shaping a shared vision for educating and supporting our students and ensuring every student is benefitting from our state’s high academic standards.”

Union leaders said they will push for their own bill to create a commission to study ideas and mandate Mass Core — the state's current recommended course of study.

Healey announced her plans to create the council in her State of the Commonwealth address Thursday. The governor said the council will include education officials, teachers, students, parents, advocates and business leaders.

Its members will be tasked with reviewing best practices in other states and analyzing how district requirements differ today. They'll also consider “what Massachusetts students should know and be able to do before they graduate,” whether that’s through required coursework, exams or other kinds of performance assessments.

The council's initial report is due by Dec. 1; any recommendations must be finalized within six months after that deadline.

Senate President Karen Spilka also embraced Healey's order.

"We need a uniform standard, and we need a way to assess, to make sure that our students are continuing to excel in being educated, and that no student is falling through the gap because we don't have the standard or an assessment," she said in remarks after the State of the Commonwealth.

State Sen. Jason Lewis filed a bill late Thursday afternoon that would set up a similar advisory council to direct the state's education department to develop a program of study expected for all students.

“We want to make sure that this is a collaborative and inclusive process,” Lewis said. He added the program would largely be mirrored on Mass Core.

“There needs to be a level of definition and specificity around all the different types of courses that are offered in high schools across Massachusetts so that students, teachers, and students and parents will know what is expected of them," he said.