Massachusetts Just Scrapped Its High-Stakes Graduation Exam—But Your School District Pressure Just Got Higher

Massachusetts voters passed Ballot Question 2 in November 2024, eliminating the 10th-grade MCAS as a high school graduation requirement. However, MCAS remains mandatory for institutional accountability. The policy shift transfers competency validation from a single state test to local district coursework certification, elevating the role of MAP Growth—a computer-adaptive assessment with 0.81-0.90 classification accuracy—as the predictive engine for institutional MCAS performance. This creates a persistent 'MCAS Premium' for high-scoring public districts and increases due diligence burdens for private school families.