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Insight on Massachusetts Ballot Question 2: Eliminating the MCAS graduation requirement

A report released today by the Center for State Policy Analysis (cSPA) at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life examines the core arguments for and against Massachusetts Ballot Question 2, which lets Massachusetts students graduate from high school without passing the 10th grade MCAS or otherwise proving their readiness to the state.

“The impact of this ballot question hinges on the individual responses of over 300 local school districts,” said Evan Horowitz, executive director of cSPA. “They’ll each need to craft appropriate standards for graduation, consistent with state learning expectations, while resisting the temptation to boost graduation rates by setting a low bar.”

Today’s report is the second in a series covering all five state ballot questions, to be released over the next two weeks.

Key findings include:


READ THE FULL REPORT

cSPA’s analysis of Question 1 was released earlier this week. In the coming days, cSPA will publish reports on the remaining state ballot questions in Massachusetts.

Executive Director Evan Horowitz will be holding a virtual presentation for media on these reports on Tuesday, Sept. 10. For more information and to RSVP for this briefing, please contact Robin Smyton in the Tufts Media Relations Office at robin.smyton@tufts.edu.

cSPA provides expert, nonpartisan analysis of legislative proposals and ballot questions in Massachusetts. It is based at Tufts University and supported by Tisch College along with a diverse group of funding sources from across the political spectrum. These funders have no involvement in cSPA’s work across the Massachusetts ballot questions.