Graduation requirements in Massachusetts?

[swimmermom3]

If there is anyone on the board that has experience with the graduation requirements for Massachusetts? I am specifically interested in verifying that students need two years of American history.

[Gwen in VA]

My favorite Massachusetts high school website, Acton-Boxborough High School, says that students are required to have three years of social studies, one of which must be U.S. History.

 

The high school offers U.S. History II, but it is an AP class.

 

http://ab.mec.edu/ABRHS/POS/POS.pdf

[Hunter]

I think MA requires passing the MCAS test as their main PS graduation requirement. My boys both home schooled their teen years in MA and no one talked about anything but the MCAS, which homeschoolers were excluded from, so I didn't listen much. One used American School and the other took the GED and both started CC as full freshman while underage.

 

Not once did the school board or the college ever ask me about graduation requirements. It was just passing the yearly standardized tests and the entrance tests, and having an accredited diploma to be able to apply for the FAFSA funds.

[MIch elle]

Two years of Am. history is not required.

 

http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/graduation.html

Edited February 3, 2011 by MIch elle

[Nan in Mass]

Two years? Where did you hear that? My older one graduated with one year and one gov credit. He had lots of social studies credits, but only one year of US history on his transcript.

I make sure we meet or exceed all our school districts basic graduation requirements, as well as the basic requirements for any colleges we are interested in. I have never had any trouble, but I suspect that varies by town and the town's previous experience with homeschoolers. My children have all been in and out of the public school, so they know us and aren't worried about the children.

The really important thing is to get paper confirmation that the school board has approved your plan. When you apply to some colleges (like any Mass state ones), they want proof that you are homeschooling legally and that the school board has said that your child graduated. As far as Brenda and I could figure out, this is just to keep dropouts from saying they are homeschoolers. I'm not sure why it only applies to Mass graduates. It is all rather mysterious. My middle son's college wanted this so xeroxed the piece of paper that said the school board approved his senior year plan and sent that off with the application. That apparently was sufficient. There was a scary hassle getting that all straightened out with the guidance department and superintendent of our school district. Long story short - somebody panicked at the thought of signing a piece of paper saying a homeschooler had met graduation requirements. Combine that with them sending me old homeschooling reg's (ones that weren't really legal) and somebody who doesn't know us thinking we were trying to be sneaky and get paperwork we weren't entitled to and you have quite a snaffoo. Sigh. They now have paperwork in place to make it easy, although they still don't sign something saying the student has graduated. They are usually friendly and helpful, though, so I think they would talk directly to any colleges we were interested in, if there were a problem. Just something to be aware of...

Why did I think you were in Penn.? Why didn't I know you were in Mass? How do you like all our snow? How is the teaching-to-drive going in all this snow? Nothing like a little black ice to make learning to drive even more exciting. Stay safe, ok?

-nan

[HeidiD]

When you apply to some colleges (like any Mass state ones), they want proof that you are homeschooling legally and that the school board has said that your child graduated. As far as Brenda and I could figure out, this is just to keep dropouts from saying they are homeschoolers. I'm not sure why it only applies to Mass graduates. It is all rather mysterious. My middle son's college wanted this so xeroxed the piece of paper that said the school board approved his senior year plan and sent that off with the application.

 

 

Wow, I'm glad you posted that, Nan. What year did this happen to you? The UMASS application doesn't seem to require a guidance counselor's signature this year. Maybe they'll be looking for that later. I hadn't bothered submitting an ed plan for approval once they turned 16, because state law doesn't require it, but then when they wanted to dual-enroll, they needed a guidance counselor to verify they were in an approved program (which they obviously weren't, but luckily we were able to work around it). Lesson learned, though. :)

[Storm Bay]

Graduation requirements seem to vary from district to district in MA. Have you checked with MHLA? They have a lot of legal info for homechooling in MA. If your dc plans to go a state college, they'll need to get a GED. Here is what a dc needs in order to go to a state college or universityh from a ps:

Minimum eligibility for admission to a Massachusetts state college or university includes sixteen units of Academic/Honors course work, a GPA of 3.0 and a passing score on the MCAS tests. SAT scores are also considered.

English 4 courses

Mathematics 3 courses (Algebra I & II & Geometry)

Science 3 courses (2 with laboratory work) Bio I & II

Social Studies 2 courses (1 in US History)

Foreign Language 2 courses of the same language (3 or 4 for selective colleges)

Electives 2 courses (including Arts & Humanities or Computer Sciences)

 

What's interesting is that the state colleges require fewer social studies credits than our ps does for graduation. Also, I this is minimum: Honours Students have usually done Alg 1 before high school, but they still need thre math courses.

[Nan in Mass]

Two years ago. I would definately not skip submitting the ed plan, even after 16, because of the whole dropout issue. The paranoid bit of me would worry that there might be some sort of stiff-necked, by-the-book government something that they needed some day that required that they not look like a dropout to the local school system.

-Nan

[Storm Bay]

The really important thing is to get paper confirmation that the school board has approved your plan. When you apply to some colleges (like any Mass state ones), they want proof that you are homeschooling legally and that the school board has said that your child graduated. -nan

 

Thanks. Also, did our ds have to take the GED? I know homeschoolers who have had to, but that was more than two years ago.

[HeidiD]

Two years ago. I would definately not skip submitting the ed plan, even after 16, because of the whole dropout issue. The paranoid bit of me would worry that there might be some sort of stiff-necked, by-the-book government something that they needed some day that required that they not look like a dropout to the local school system.

-Nan

 

 

Good advice - that little bit of extra paperwork might help avoid a big hassle down the line. :)

[swimmermom3]

You ladies are awesome. I asked the question for Tigersgrowl, who is not enjoying her second year of American history. I had checked the MassCore requirements and the department of ed as well as the curriculum of several high schools. If you all wouldn't mind checking in with her thread, I would appreciate it. I wasn't sure of the information that was given to her and it sounds like she is dealing with a difficult person on her end. I figured she needed more experienced help than I could offer.:D

 

About those tests, I believe Tigersgrowl falls under the exception passed in 2009 that exempts the classes of 2012 and 2013 from the social sciences and history tests due to budget cuts. Perhaps someone can confirm this.

 

Thank you all so much.

 

Nan, sadly I am nowhere near your neck of the woods. I am in Portland, Or where it is a cool 35 degrees and gloriously sunny. Dh is currently in Boston though and having quite the driving experiences.:tongue_smilie:

 

You all stay safe and take care.

[HeidiD]

Thanks. Also, did our ds have to take the GED? I know homeschoolers who have had to, but that was more than two years ago.

 

One of my kids was accepted at a state school two years ago, and offered a spot in an honors program. He didn't take a GED - just submitted a "Mommy Transcript", and the school didn't require verification from a guidance counselor. He ended up going somewhere else, so it had slipped my mind. :tongue_smilie:

 

Another one of my kids has an application in now, and after seeing Nan's post, thought I'd better check. Anyway, they said his application is complete as is, and it's the same documentation we sent in for kid#1.

 

Of course, the rules could be different again next year. :)

[Nan in Mass]

No - no GED, no MCAS. He had an interview, a handwritten paper application (the school's), SAT scores, an ungraded, undated transcript from me (except for the CC classes on it), a copy of the letter from the school department approving our homeschool plan for his senior year, a CC transcript with 8 classes on it, and recommendations from his coach, his scout master, his CC comp prof, and a guidance councilor at CC. It was the Massachusetts CC classes that got him into his Maine state college, I'm pretty sure. His college is familiar with our CC (they recruit there). Nobody said anything about the GED. Nothing I saw even hinted that they were required or desirable. Nothing said they were undesirable, either.

HTH

-Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Sigh. Too bad. At least the whole driving thing should be easier.

We have sun today, too. Well, there was a small snow squall this morning, but that has stopped. I sank up to my waist in a drift going to feed the birds this morning. It is very pretty, but I don't have to shovel any of it. Boston is looking for permission to dump snow into the harbour because all their snow fields are full. I hope your husband gets home safe and sound. I will check out Tigergrowl's thread.

-Nan

[Brenda in MA]

Two years? Where did you hear that? My older one graduated with one year and one gov credit. He had lots of social studies credits, but only one year of US history on his transcript.

I make sure we meet or exceed all our school districts basic graduation requirements, as well as the basic requirements for any colleges we are interested in. I have never had any trouble, but I suspect that varies by town and the town's previous experience with homeschoolers. My children have all been in and out of the public school, so they know us and aren't worried about the children.

The really important thing is to get paper confirmation that the school board has approved your plan. When you apply to some colleges (like any Mass state ones), they want proof that you are homeschooling legally and that the school board has said that your child graduated. As far as Brenda and I could figure out, this is just to keep dropouts from saying they are homeschoolers. I'm not sure why it only applies to Mass graduates. It is all rather mysterious.

-nan

 

Thanks Nan for answering. I agree with what Nan said. Mass schools are run by local towns and cities, and as such, they can have different graduation requirements. Like Nan, I want to make sure that my student has met the graduation requirements in my town. For my son who graduated, I was able to get a letter from the town saying that his homeschool program met or exceeded the graduation requirements at our local public high school.

 

My son applied to UMass Amherst and was accepted there. The admissions officer called while reviewing his file and asked me to send in copies of the approval letters from the school department for our 4 years of homeschooling high school. This is why I kept reporting to the town after he turned 16 yo. He ended up not going there for college, though.

 

Regarding tigersgrowl's situation -- I don't know what her specific city or town requires. The other issue, as Nan alluded to, is how accommodating the person at the local school department happens to be since each town can have slightly different requirements. If I were her, and her town/city requires 2 years of US History, I would show a transcript with 2 years of US History. She has a lot of flexibility in how she accomplishes that, though. She might look at the Teaching Company US History lectures (maybe her library has these), she could find a US History overview text, encyclopedia, or book at the library and read that to get the big picture and then add in some historical fiction or documentaries.

 

The best person/persons to give her advice on dealing with her school dept are other homeschoolers in her town or city. The other thing she should do is to call the colleges she is looking at and ask them what information they will want to see from her regarding her 2 years of high school at home.

 

HTH,

Brenda

[Hunter's Moon]

You ladies are awesome. I asked the question for Tigersgrowl, who is not enjoying her second year of American history. I had checked the MassCore requirements and the department of ed as well as the curriculum of several high schools. If you all wouldn't mind checking in with her thread, I would appreciate it. I wasn't sure of the information that was given to her and it sounds like she is dealing with a difficult person on her end. I figured she needed more experienced help than I could offer.:D

 

About those tests, I believe Tigersgrowl falls under the exception passed in 2009 that exempts the classes of 2012 and 2013 from the social sciences and history tests due to budget cuts. Perhaps someone can confirm this.

 

Thank you all so much.

 

Nan, sadly I am nowhere near your neck of the woods. I am in Portland, Or where it is a cool 35 degrees and gloriously sunny. Dh is currently in Boston though and having quite the driving experiences.:tongue_smilie:

 

You all stay safe and take care.

 

Thank you, I appreciate this.

 

Yes, I am exempt from the social sciences and history tests.

 

I did all the other tests though, so I assume that'll mean I won't need a GED??

 

None of the colleges I've talked to mentioned a GED. One wants a paper from the school district stating I met all high school requirements, but the other two just want descriptions of the classes I did my Junior and Senior Year since 9th and 10th were at a Public School.

 

The woman downtown thinks I need to do what she thinks is good enough. Since she will be the one signing the paper that states I completed and fulfilled the high school requirements, I can't really argue with her on the issue.

 

Thanks Nan for answering. I agree with what Nan said. Mass schools are run by local towns and cities, and as such, they can have different graduation requirements. Like Nan, I want to make sure that my student has met the graduation requirements in my town. For my son who graduated, I was able to get a letter from the town saying that his homeschool program met or exceeded the graduation requirements at our local public high school.

 

My son applied to UMass Amherst and was accepted there. The admissions officer called while reviewing his file and asked me to send in copies of the approval letters from the school department for our 4 years of homeschooling high school. This is why I kept reporting to the town after he turned 16 yo. He ended up not going there for college, though.

 

Regarding tigersgrowl's situation -- I don't know what her specific city or town requires. The other issue, as Nan alluded to, is how accommodating the person at the local school department happens to be since each town can have slightly different requirements. If I were her, and her town/city requires 2 years of US History, I would show a transcript with 2 years of US History. She has a lot of flexibility in how she accomplishes that, though. She might look at the Teaching Company US History lectures (maybe her library has these), she could find a US History overview text, encyclopedia, or book at the library and read that to get the big picture and then add in some historical fiction or documentaries.

 

The best person/persons to give her advice on dealing with her school dept are other homeschoolers in her town or city. The other thing she should do is to call the colleges she is looking at and ask them what information they will want to see from her regarding her 2 years of high school at home.

 

HTH,

Brenda

 

Thanks!

 

I live pretty close to UMass Amherst, but sadly they don't have the program I need. I used to have my heart set on that college.

 

My 3 top colleges now seem to be pretty lax about what they want from homeschoolers.

 

The law doesn't specifically state 2 years of U.S. History, but I just figured they'd want to see me do U.S. II as well. Since the woman downtown will just tell me to do it because that is what she *thinks* is best, she doesn't know what is truly necessary or required.

 

I'll check with my library to see about the TC Lectures. I know they have a rather wide collection, but my library system also allows borrowing from all over Massachusetts so I'm sure I'll be able to find 'em.

[Susan C.]

Stephanie,

Did you take the first year of American History in high school, or middle school? If middle school, then you may not have the credit you need for high school.

[Hunter's Moon]

Stephanie,

Did you take the first year of American History in high school, or middle school? If middle school, then you may not have the credit you need for high school.

 

High school, 10th grade.