District/School Administration Administration
Education Laws and Regulations

603 CMR 30.00:
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System and Standards for Competency Determination

Most Recently Amended by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education: November 18, 2008

30.03: Standards for Competency Determination

(1) Students in the graduating classes of 2003 through 2009 shall meet or exceed the Needs Improvement threshold scaled score of 220 on both the English Language Arts and the Mathematics MCAS grade 10 tests in order to satisfy the requirements of the Competency Determination.

(2) Students starting with the graduating class of 2010 must satisfy one of the following two conditions in both English language arts and mathematics to earn a competency determination.

(a) meet or exceed the Proficient threshold scaled score of 240 on the English Language Arts and Mathematics grade 10 MCAS tests, or

(b) meet or exceed the Needs Improvement threshold scaled score of 220 on the English Language Arts and Mathematics grade 10 MCAS tests and fulfill the requirements of an Educational Proficiency Plan.

(3) Students starting with the graduating class of 2010 shall, in addition to meeting the requirements found in 603 CMR 30.03(2), take a discipline specific high school Science and Technology/Engineering MCAS test (Biology, Chemistry, Introductory Physics or Technology/Engineering) and shall meet or exceed the Needs Improvement threshold scaled score of 220 on the test in order to satisfy the requirement of the Competency Determination.

(a) Students starting with the graduating class of 2010 shall take a discipline specific high school Science and Technology/Engineering MCAS test (Biology, Chemistry, Introductory Physics or Technology/Engineering) by grade 10.

(b) The Commissioner may waive the requirement to take the test by grade 10 for an individual student for good cause. Good cause for such a waiver may include a student's illness or a student's transfer into the Massachusetts public schools after grade 10.

**(4) Students starting with the graduating class of 2012, in addition to meeting the requirements contained in 603 CMR 30.02(2) and (3), shall meet or exceed the Needs Improvement scaled score of 220 on the History and Social Science high school MCAS test.

** Note to 603 CMR 30.03(4):
On February 24, 2009, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to waive the history and social science requirement for a Competency Determination (603 CMR 30.03(4)) for students in the classes of 2012 and 2013, due to budget constraints. This temporary waiver means that students in the graduating classes of 2012 and 2013 must meet the Competency Determination standards in English language arts, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering, but not history and social science, as a condition of high school graduation. The Board intends to establish a timeline for reinstituting the history and social science requirement for the Competency Determination as expeditiously as possible.

(5) Educational Proficiency Plans for each required content area shall include, at a minimum:

(a) A review of a student's strengths and weaknesses in the content area.

(b) The courses the student will be required to take and successfully complete in grades 11 and 12 that will move the student toward proficiency on the grade 10 curriculum framework standards as well as on grade 11 and 12 standards in English language arts or grade 11 and 12 grade span standards or Algebra II standards in mathematics.

(c) A description of the assessments the school will administer on at least an annual basis to determine whether the student is making progress toward proficiency, or has become proficient on the grade 10 standards. These assessments must include MCAS tests or other tests identified by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for this purpose.

(6) A student achieving a scaled score 240 or higher on an MCAS test or a score determined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on another approved test will be deemed to have achieved proficiency in the subject area and to have fulfilled the Educational Proficiency Plan in that subject. For students who have not achieved this score threshold, the principal or head of school (or his or her designee) will determine whether the student has fulfilled the Educational Proficiency Plan.

Regulatory Authority:
603 CMR 30.00: M.G.L. c. 69, §§ 1B and 1D; St. 2003, c.140, §119.