With school back in session for more than 900,000 students in Massachusetts, WAMC spoke with state Education Secretary Dr. Patrick Tutwiler about the new year, a slate of grants and programs aimed at early literacy and the state of statewide testing.
DR. PATRICK TUTWILER: It's really, for me, one of my favorite times of the school year. There's a lot of joy and optimism, and this is a sentiment that I'm seeing firsthand. We were in Tewksbury yesterday at Dewing Elementary School with the governor, announcing our high-dosage tutoring program.
Earlier that day, I was at the convocation at Woburn High School, I was at Acushnet last week: this is a really happy and joyful time as kids get back into school and into the routines of the school day, meeting new friends, meeting the new teacher - so far so good and I suspect by the end of the week, all schools will be in session, and again - just a really joyful time of the year.
WAMC: Before the start of the summer, we saw updated standards for the state's competency determination clear the state’s education board.
They've been described as “minimum requirements,” the term “interim” has been used quite a few times: they're words that carry a lot of weight for high school students figuring out what they need to do to graduate.
Can you talk to me a little bit about the competency determination as it stands, and where exactly is the state with developing statewide standards?
TUTWILER: …as a result of Question 2 in November's election, the MCAS was decoupled from graduation requirements in Massachusetts, meaning … the MCAS no longer plays a role in the graduation conversation in high schools in Massachusetts.
The language in that question did call for students to complete coursework in the same content areas that the MCAS assesses, so, two years of English, grades 9-10, completing high school math, inclusive of algebra and geometry, and then one science course … it could be biology or physical science or a technology and engineering course.
Students must now complete those courses in order to meet the competency determination, and that is the case for this year, for the class of ’26, and then in the class of ’27, there's the introduction of United States history - students must also complete that course.
I have been an educator for about 26 years: I don't know of too many high schools that don't require those courses that I just named and so, this is very much in line with the natural course sequence that students take in high school. They'll just need to pass those courses and the district will need to certify that in order to meet the competency determination.
You asked about, you know, “is this temporary,” and “what is the state thinking about going forward?” Governor Healy signed an executive order in January calling for the establishment of a “Graduation Council.”
This is a very diverse group of educators, parents and caregivers, folks from the Higher Ed sector, folks representing the special education community, multilingual learners who are all around the table, thinking about how do we answer the question of what we want all Massachusetts high school graduates to know and be able to do.
That work began in March of last school year. We've engaged in a whole host of listening sessions, we've surveyed the state - about 7,000 respondents. We're at a place now where we're close to announcing a vision of a Massachusetts graduate, which does define what we want all students to know and be able to do.
We expect to do that by the end of this month, and then we've got to sort of plan backwards from that. So, we've got the vision - what are the learning experiences that students need to engage in order to fulfill that vision? And then, how do we expect all students to show mastery? How … in terms of being college career- and a civic-ready.
That will come, likely, before the end of the calendar year. And so, I would say that we are moving carefully but also expeditiously to answer those important questions and look forward to the announcements coming up soon.
WAMC: Heading into this school year, the Healey administration’s been announcing a slate of early literacy-related awards and programs. I want to ask: why is the state tackling early literacy like this – what kind of value is it putting on it?
TUTWILER: The value is high … we believe everything that the research tells us about the importance of early literacy. First, for success in a student's educational career, right? Getting this right early in the grades K-3 has a significant impact on success thereafter, grades 4-12 and beyond.
But what I would also say is the research tells us how much this is an important piece of a student's life. Students who struggle with literacy issues have significant concerns later on in life and so, for us, this is not just about getting this right in academics and the academic outcome. For us, it's really a moral imperative around ensuring that students can live the lives that they envision for themselves, having this really important skill set mastered.
And so, we have launched the governor's initiative around literacy: it’s called “Literacy Launch.” It's a broad-based, multi-year strategy to permanently transform literacy instruction in Massachusetts to ensure that students are reading and reading.
A piece of this you saw [announced] in Easthampton… $9.3 million going out to about 30 districts to help them purchase high-quality, instructional materials in the early literacy space. We recently completed professional development over the course of a week for 600 educators, with plans of doing that again next summer. We are supporting schools of education with shifting to training pre-service teachers and evidence-based early literacy strategies.
And so, there are many pieces of this that are at work, and we think this is going to have significant impact, up to and including the direct service piece… high-dosage tutoring, which will impact 272 elementary schools this year: about 10,000 students who will receive direct, tailored tutoring service, free of charge, this year.
WAMC: Dr. Tutwiler, thank you for your time
TUTWILER: Any time!
That was Massachusetts Education Secretary Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, speaking with WAMC about the start of the new school year, early literacy and state testing.
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This piece originally aired on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.
