During the Feb. 5 Waltham School Committee meeting, members of the committee voted in favor of establishing three pathways to meet competency determination requirements for the Waltham High School 2025 graduating class. The decision comes almost three months after Massachusetts voters passed a law eliminating the requirement that students pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests in order to receive a high school diploma.

Prior to the November 2024 election, the CD requirements were fulfilled by administering the MCAS, a standardized test in English Language Arts, Math and Science for high school freshmen and sophomores. Additionally, all students were required to complete both MassCore and local coursework requirements for graduation. With a 59.1% vote in favor of eliminating the requirement to pass the MCAS in order to graduate, CD is now determined by coursework at the local level.

During last week’s school committee meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Sarah Kent presented the proposal for the class of 2025. Kent explained that in order to develop a sufficient standard proposal, the department gathered insights and data from other Massachusetts school districts, attended meetings and webinars, reviewed curricula, discussed alignment with other directors and vetted the proposal with the entire Waltham High School administrative and executive team.

The proposal included three pathways for students to meet CD. The first pathway required this year’s seniors to have passed the MCAS exams during their freshman and sophomore years. The second pathway presented allows for a combination of passing some MCAS exams and completing certified coursework to cover any missed exams. The third pathway enables students to meet the CD requirement solely through coursework that has been certified by the district as aligned with the curriculum frameworks for CD. 

According to Kent, these three pathways meet the state law that outlines that to achieve CD, states’ students would have to have demonstrate “mastery of a common core of skills, competencies and knowledge.., by satisfactorily completing coursework that has been certified by the student’s district as showing mastery of the skills, competencies and knowledge contained in the state academic standards and curriculum frameworks in the areas measured by the MCAS high school tests described in section one administered in 2023.” 

Kent and her department have determined that the certified courses equivalent to passing the MCAS in ELA include receiving a passing score in Grade 9 and 10 English or ESL Levels 2A and 2B courses. For Math, students would need a passing score in Integrated 1 and Integrated 2 courses, or topics in Algebra and Geometry or Math 12 Personal Finance. Lastly, the science proposal would require seniors to receive a passing score in a lab science course, such as Physics, Biology or Chemistry.

During the question and answer portion of the presentation, school committee member Liz AlJammal asked what constitutes a passing or sufficient grade for the certified courses needed to achieve a CD. Kent clarified that a ”D” is considered a passing grade.

“If we’re giving credit for it, we’re counting it as ‘mastery,’” Kent explained, noting the ambiguity in the law’s language regarding what qualifies as “mastery.”

The proposal was approved by all five present committee members. 

In anticipation for the future graduating classes of 2026, 2027 and beyond, Kent shared with the with the school committee questions she and her department are considering, including if participation in MCAS will be considered as a graduation requirement for Waltham ninth and tenth graders, as test scores would still need for a student to be considered for the John and Abigail Adams merit-based scholarship and for a graduating senior to receive the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy. The MCAS would help with school and district accountability, and Kent added that while the current proposal offers three pathways for the Class of 2025 to achieve competency determination, they are still exploring the possibility of multiple pathways or additional options, such as portfolios. She emphasized that further discussion will be needed, as they are ”waiting for some sort of guidance” from the state government. On Jan. 17, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey established a K-12 Statewide Graduation Council to advise both the Governor and the Legislature on the development of statewide graduation requirements.