When the new Massachusetts law connected to the passage of Ballot Question 2 goes into effect December 5th, students will no longer be required to pass the statewide exam known as the MCAS.
But they still need to earn a Competency Determination or CD in order to graduate. That's now largely but not completely in the hands of school districts.
Since 2003, the CD has been based on achieving qualifying scores on relevant MCAS tests. When the new law takes effect, the memo said, "the CD will be based on “satisfactorily completing coursework that has been certified by the student’s district” as written in the ballot question. Guidance on certification will be forthcoming."
The campaign that brought the question of whether to end the MCAS exam before voters, didn't provide language for how that assessment would be done.
The mastery of English, math, science, technology, social science history and foreign languages is still based on standards and curriculum set by the state.
The memo, written in a question-and answer-format, asked about students who had been scheduled to re-take the MCAS this and next week, before the new regulation is in effect.
"Will the MCAS retests in English Language Arts and Mathematics scheduled for November 2024 go forward? Will students who achieve qualifying scores on those tests be eligible to earn the CD?," DESE wrote.
For those subject areas, any student who earns a qualifying or passing score on the retest will satisfy the CD requirements for that subject area, according to DESE.
Taking the test appears optional; the state is asking districts to "highly encourage all students eligible for retesting in the November administration [of the MCAS] to do so."
