Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
State education board backs admission lottery for vocational schools, temporary graduation requirements
The state's in-demand vocational schools will most likely turn to a lottery admissions system, and the MCAS will still be in "limited" use.
The state’s education board voted to implement a lottery to distribute the sparse seats at the state’s popular trade high schools, while also approving temporary graduation requirements following the removal of the MCAS as a requirement.
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education met at Methuen High School Tuesday, and voted 8-2 to use a weighted lottery system to distribute the in-demand seats at the vocational high schools, including Blackstone Valley in Upton or Madison Park in Boston.
Instead of using criteria such as grades and interviews, admissions to the schools will be lottery-based, with extra weight given to students without major disciplinary infractions and without 27 or more unexcused absences in the prior school year.
Advertisement:
If schools choose, some priority can also be given to students who show interest in career technical education, or CTE, in their applications, such as attending open houses or virtual information sessions.
While the Healey administration lauded the vote, the state legislature is considering blocking the proposed lottery-based admissions following lobbying efforts from the vocational schools themselves, The Boston Globe reported earlier this month.
“Every student deserves a fair shot at exploring their passions and building a future that they’re excited about,”said Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, who abstained from the vote. “We heard loud and clear through public comment the need for more CTE seats.”
Advertisement:
Tutwiler noted that the Healey administration is responding, with the governor’s proposed budget including $75 million in career technical education school capital grants and a goal to add 3,000 CTE seats over the next three years.
Community education leaders and educators from vocational-technical high schools weighed in during Tuesday’s meeting. Currently, schools can use selective criteria, such as grades, personal interviews, or recommendations. Advocates at the meeting, particularly who work with students of color or students with disabilities, said this locks vulnerable groups out of trade schools.
“We know that eliminating grades, interviews, and recommendations as admission criteria for these popular programs is critical to expand opportunity for students across the commonwealth,” Traci Griffith, the director of the Racial Justice Program with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said at the meeting.
State Sen. John Cronin told the board that “economically disadvantaged applicants received an offer of admission 34 percent of the time. More affluent received an offer at nearly double the rate, 64 percent of the time.”
“That is wrong,” he said.
Aaron Polansky, the superintendent director of Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School and the vice president of the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators, told the board that “a blanket approach is not the answer.”
Advertisement:
DESE already monitors vocational schools with disproportionate admissions, he said.
“A yes vote signals to students that, as far as seeking admission to a vocational school, working toward a goal won’t matter, because a lottery will determine the outcome,” Polansky said. “Massachusetts students deserve a fair admission system under local control that includes high standards and student support.”
MCAS to be used as graduation requirement in “limited circumstances“
The board later in the meeting voted 8-1 to approve new temporary graduation requirements. Since voters overwhelmingly decided that high schoolers should not need to pass the MCAS to graduate, there has been no state-wide standard for the 351 municipalities in Massachusetts. Healey and Tutwiler were against the ballot initiative.
At the meeting, the board set the minimum requirements for coursework, including two years of English language arts, algebra and geometry or math I and math II courses, one year of biology, physics, or chemistry, as well as one year of a technology/engineering course. Completion of a U.S. history course will also be required beginning for the graduating class of 2027.
The requirements are an “interim solution” that “are meant to serve as a bridge to a longer-term solution” to state-wide graduation requirements, Rob Curtin, DESE’s chief officer for data, assessment and accountability, told the board. The approved requirements will determine which students earn a Competency Determination, which was previously done through MCAS scores. A Healey-created council is still discussing state-wide graduation requirements aside from the competency determination.
Advertisement:
Mary Tamer, executive director for the nonprofit MassPotential, said during public comment that the temporary requirements won’t prepare students for college and are “far below nearly every other state in the country.”
Martin West, a board member, called the requirements “very unsatisfactory” but voted to approve the new requirements.
The board also approved that in “limited circumstances,” a district may use a student’s MCAS score of at least “meeting expectations” in place of some requirements. These circumstances could include students who were previously homeschooled or arrived from another state or country.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association, which was behind the ballot initiative to remove the MCAS graduation requirement, condemned any use of the MCAS in a statement.
“The proposed ‘limited use’ of MCAS scores for competency determination is a ridiculous back door attempt by opponents of Question 2 to salvage a status quo that harmed students across the state and stifled authentic learning for decades,” MTA leadership wrote.
This article has been updated to include additional information about the graduation requirements.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com