Half of all public high schools in Massachusetts do not require students to complete the state-recommended coursework for success in college and beyond in order to graduate, according to a new report.
MassCore is the state’s recommended program of study for preparing high schoolers for college, which includes courses in English, math, and science, among others. The report, published on Thursday by Voices for Academic Equity — a coalition of education reform nonprofits and advocates who support keeping the MCAS exams in place as a tool for objectively measuring student progress — found that half of the state’s schools’ graduation requirements either meet or exceed the MassCore standards while half do not, resulting, “in wide variation in students’ learning experiences across high schools.”
“What you see is just wildly different interpretations across our school districts of what you know should be required for a student to graduate from high school and be set up for their future,” said coalition member Kerry Donahue, an education consultant and former chief strategy officer of the Boston Schools Fund, “and thatthe difference from district to district then results in inequities from student to student.”
Massachusetts is one of two states, including Vermont, that do not require high schoolers to complete certain coursework to graduate. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education only requires students to pass their MCAS tests to earn their diploma. Under state law, all high schools must offer physical education and civics classes, but students don’t have to pass them. Districts in Massachusetts are allowed to come up with their own required course lists for graduation.
That means if voters pass Question 2 — a ballot initiative that would eliminate requiring high schoolers to pass their 10th grade MCAS exams to earn their diploma — this November, there will be no uniform graduation standards in Massachusetts.
Max Page, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which launched the ballot campaign to end the MCAS graduation requirement, said Massachusetts schools already have “the highest academic standards in the country,” referring to the state’s comprehensive curriculum frameworks. The state’s largest teachers union has said requiring high schoolers to pass the MCAS unfairly punishes students with disabilities or who are not fluent in English.
“We believe, as our campaign slogan says, in high standards,” Page said, “and we are against high-stakes testing.”
But Donahue said the lack of clear and consistent graduation standards puts traditionally marginalized students, such as English learners and first-generation college students, at a disadvantage.
“For students that are English learners, they’re navigating a new system. Their families may not speak English, and they may not be familiar with the requirements of colleges in Massachusetts,” she said. “As a state, we could do a better job setting a foundation.”
MassCore was adopted by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2007 and is aligned with the admission requirements at the state’s university system and is regarded by state officials as a better indicator of college readiness than the MCAS. MassCore standards include four years of English, math, and physical education; three years of science and social studies; two years of world languages; one year of the arts; and five electives.
Previous research has shown Boston students who completed MassCore had better odds of earning a postsecondary degree than those who did not. In 2021, the Boston School Committee changed its graduation policy to require students to complete MassCore, starting with the class of 2026.
Because MassCore completion rates are not considered in the state’s accountability formula, the report notes, there are no consequences for districts that do not participate. Moreover, the state’s education agency only collects self-reported data from districts about the number of high school graduates who have completed the state’s prescribed set of courses. These data are limited and misleading, the report argues, because many districts don’t track MassCore participation and overestimate the number of students who have completed the recommended course list, when compared with transcript records.
Instead of relying on self-reported data, the report analyzes the 2023 and 2024 graduation requirements of Massachusetts’ public high schools, based on publicly available documents, to determine whether their requirements aligned with MassCore standards. Its sample encompasses 79 percent of the state’s high schools, including alternative, charter, and vocational schools, which collectively serve more 92 percent of secondary students.
Not only did the report find that half of all high schools lack graduation requirements that meet MassCore’s recommended program of study, schools with wealthier student bodies are less likely to require MassCore than schools with a greater proportion of low-income students. The analysis also looked at school size, and found that extra-large schools with 1,500 students or more were less likely to require MassCore compared with smaller schools.
“Some of the districts were a surprise to us,” said Jill Souza Norton, an independent education policy adviser, who wrote the report “because when you look at their high school graduation rates and their college enrollment and completion rates, you would guess that they are requiring MassCore, but it turns out that they are falling short.”
The report does not investigate why some districts choose to adopt MassCore and others don’t, and recommends more research for understanding the factors influencing local decisions about MassCore. Norton said some superintendents with whom she’s spoken have pointed to challenges with hiring teachers for certain subjects. Districts may also be reluctant to implement MassCore because they can’t afford the curriculum materials or they don’t have the facilities.
Donahue said a common set of graduation requirements tied to coursework would ensure all students are prepared for college or a career.
“It reduces the chance that there’s going to be variation,” she said. “And usually in our state, variation is tied to the level of resources [in schools] because of the way that communities are really segregated by income here in our state.”
Deanna Pan can be reached at deanna.pan@globe.com. Follow her @DDpan.