When voters opted to remove the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test as a high school graduation requirement in November 2024, local school districts were instructed to create temporary standards.
Now, as those interim policies come due on Dec. 31, the Healey-Driscoll administration has released a new statewide graduation framework that won’t be finalized until 2026 — leaving schools navigating two major transitions at once.
“There’s a lot coming at the schools right now,” said Anne Ludes, assistant superintendent for preK-12 education of Framingham Public Schools. “These are drastic changes that affect entire schools.”
Developed by Gov. Maura Healey’s Statewide K-12 Graduation Council and shaped by thousands of survey responses, eight statewide listening sessions and extensive stakeholder feedback, the state’s new framework outlines what the administration calls the “Vision of a Massachusetts Graduate.”
The plan would make MassCore (the state’s recommended set of high school courses) the required academic program for all students. It would also replace the MCAS graduation requirement with a hybrid “demonstration of mastery” model, using state-designed end-of-course assessments and a district-designed capstone or portfolio.
A second pillar of the state’s recommendations, “Prepared for What’s Next,” would require MyCAP (the state’s postsecondary planning tool), financial literacy and completion of the FAFSA or state aid form.
What will happen with school districts’ interim policies?
As local school districts set interim policies for this school year, many educators are unsure whether their programs will eventually be replaced — or layered on top of — by what the state has now proposed.
“Will (competency determination) go away and be replaced by these graduation requirements?” Ludes asked, “or will we be living with both?”
District leaders are still parsing the 108-page document released on Dec. 1, offering early reactions to what could become the state’s most far-reaching graduation overhaul in decades.
For both Framingham and Milford schools, the most immediate challenges stem from the new mastery-based components. The state’s proposal requires every student to complete a capstone or portfolio, and neither district currently has a system that could support all students. Superintendents say implementation will require significant time, staffing and planning.
“The capstone or portfolio is probably going to be the biggest hurdle for us,” Ludes said. “That’s going to be something brand-new for everybody.”
Milford has a portfolio element in grade 10 English but no schoolwide model. Interim Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Kerry Taylor noted that in the state’s review of 120 districts, only 19 require a capstone or portfolio — eight of which are charter schools and another four being regional vocational schools.
“I’d want to see what the other seven are doing,” Taylor said.
End-of-course assessments ‘sound like MCAS again’
The state-designed end-of-course assessments — the other major mastery component — also raised questions. Local school officials noted the state has yet to determine which courses would require an EOC, how the tests would factor into graduation decisions, and whether they could ultimately replace the current high school MCAS — a change that would require federal approval.
“They sound like MCAS to me again,” said Milford Superintendent of Schools Craig Consigli, adding that teacher involvement will be essential. “(The state) will need a lot of teacher voices to ensure success.”
Those concerns are also being raised at the state level. The Massachusetts Teachers Association (which funded the ballot campaign to end the MCAS graduation requirement) wrote in a statement Dec. 1 that adding new state-developed, state-scored end-of-course exams “defies the will of voters who made clear their wishes in the 2024 Question 2 referendum.” The union said the proposal “poisons a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to rethink high school learning.
Beyond the mastery model, superintendents said the rest of the framework will play out very differently from community to community, with each starting at its own level of readiness.
MyCAP is one area of relative strength for Framingham and Milford. Framingham already embeds the tool across all four years of high school through its counseling program. Milford is close behind; with a state grant awarded earlier this fall, the district plans to launch MyCAP in January, beginning with students in grade 6.
“Students will be able to start to think about college, career and civic readiness as early as grade 6, and keep all their work in one place,” Taylor said.
How does financial literacy fit with new graduation requirements?
Financial literacy, however, will require more guidance. Both districts offer personal finance as an elective but do not require it, and superintendents said the state will need to clarify what qualifies as financial literacy and how the requirements should be delivered.
As a former math department head, Ludes said she supports the addition but noted the scheduling and design challenges it creates.
“We have to be creative in how we implement that,” she said. “Is it a one-term course? A full semester? Is it embedded in something all students already take?”
MassCore would have uneven impacts as well. Milford already aligns with the state’s recommended course sequence. Framingham is close, but would need to add a fourth year of math — a change Ludes supports, though it would require scheduling flexibility.
Despite the uncertainties, district leaders said the broader direction of the proposal — expanding pathways for students to demonstrate readiness — is something they support. But they cautioned that such a sweeping transition will take time, especially as schools build temporary systems now while planning for a long-term model that’s still under development.
“In order to do it right,” Consigli said, “it’s going to take at least three to five years once we have the parameters of what we are trying to accomplish.”
Still, he said, the shift toward multiple pathways is the right one.
“All kids learn in different ways and have different strengths,” Consigli said. “It’s important we provide multiple opportunities and pathways to demonstrate mastery — not just one test.”