Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System
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The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment system, commonly abbreviated as MCAS , is
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
's statewide standards-based assessment program developed in 1993 in response to the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of the same year. State and federal law mandates that all
student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...
s who are enrolled in the tested grades and who are educated with
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
public funds participate in MCAS testing. If necessary, students are given multiple opportunities to take the test to maximize the chance that said student will pass the exam.


Preparation

Students are prepared for the exams throughout their academic careers through primary and secondary education. However, if an individual student needs help improving in a particular test, the first step in giving that student the extra help he or she needs is to identify specific weaknesses. Sometimes the student, teachers, or parents are aware of the weaknesses; sometimes they are not. To ascertain what the student knows as well as what he or she needs to learn, a diagnostic test may be administered.


Grade levels

Students take different tests according to their grade level. In addition to these tests, students may be required to take tryouts and pilot tests. The following list is current as of spring 2017. It is required for a student to pass the English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science and Technology/Engineering portions of the Grade 10 test in order to meet the Competency Determination requirement. Note: High School students take a Science and Technology/Engineering test in biology, chemistry, introductory physics, or technology/engineering. Note: The History and Social Sciences test has been placed on hold due to budgetary concerns. An Educational Proficiency Plan EPP must be developed for the subject matter area(s) in English Language Arts and mathematics in which students did not meet or exceed a scaled score of 240. 10th graders who score at the Advanced performance level on one of the three high school state assessment tests in ELA, Mathematics, or STE (Biology, Chemistry, Introductory Physics, or Technology/Engineering); and score at the Proficient level or higher on the remaining two high school state assessment tests; and have combined scores from the three tests that place them in the top 25 percent of students in the graduating class in their district are eligible for the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. Recipients receive a tuition waiver (not including fees) to attend state colleges and universities in Massachusetts. The waiver is in effect for 6 years. MCAS school and district level reports are released each fall on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.


Criticism

The MCAS has been criticized for being too narrow in nature and for pressuring teachers into restricting the curriculum to material covered by the tests. It has been met with opposition from former mayor Scott W. Lang of
New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...
, who called it "completely unsustainable" and "impractical". He claimed that the MCAS was causing students to drop out of high school, and expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that public high school students must pass the MCAS to graduate. Charles Gobron, former superintendent of the Northborough - Southborough Regional School District school district, claimed that the standards set by the MCAS were "unfair", and that the minimum threshold for proficiency on the tests was being raised each year, "making it look like schools are doing worse than they really are." The MCAS has also faced opposition from public school teachers. Some, such as Joan Bonsignore of
Easthampton High School Easthampton High School is a public, coeducational secondary school, located in and serving the community of Easthampton, Massachusetts. The school is administrated by a principal, William Evans, who responds to the Easthampton Public Schools Di ...
, claim that the tests do not accurately demonstrate the skills of students, and that they cause anxiety among the students. The University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute, a research arm of the University President's Office, wrote in 2001 that the MCAS do not measure school or district performance because 84% of the variation in the scores across schools and districts is due to socioeconomic factors. In other words, as the Donahue Institute reported, "One of the consistent findings of this research is that demography explains most of the variation in test scores from district to district. Results from this year's research are similar to results from last year's work: about 84% of the variation in test results (scores for all of the test-taking students for the nine MCAS tests combined) is explained by demography. That is why Weston and Wayland have high MCAS scores and why Holyoke and Brockton have low MCAS scores. Thus, though demography is not destiny, it sets a strong tendency." In the end, wrote the Donahue Report, the MCAS scores tell more about a district's real estate values than the quality of its schools." Students tend to joke that MCAS stands for "Massachusetts Child Abuse System".


See also

*
Concept inventory A concept inventory is a criterion-referenced test designed to help determine whether a student has an accurate working knowledge of a specific set of concepts. Historically, concept inventories have been in the form of multiple-choice tests in ord ...
*
Connecticut Academic Performance Test The Connecticut Academic Performance Test, or simply the CAPT, is a state-mandated standardized test administered by the Connecticut State Board of Education that all public school students in Connecticut must take. The test is proctored to all s ...
in Connecticut *
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or the FCAT/FCAT 2.0, was the standardized test used in the primary and secondary public schools of Florida. First administered statewide in 1998, it replaced the State Student Assessment Test (SSAT) a ...
in Florida *
Regents Examinations In New York State, Regents Examinations are statewide standardized examinations in core high school subjects. Students are required to pass these exams to earn a Regents Diploma. To graduate, students are required to have earned appropriate credit ...
in New York State * Standardized Testing and Reporting in California *
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) was the fourth Texas state standardized test previously used in grade 3-8 and grade 9-11 to assess students' attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies skills required ...
*
Washington Assessment of Student Learning The Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) was a standardized educational assessment system given as the primary assessment in the state of Washington from spring 1997 to summer 2009. The WASL was also used as a high school graduation exam ...
in Washington State


References


External links


MCAS Curriculum Frameworks"Measuring Up: A Report on Education Standards and Assessments for Massachusetts"
Achieve, Inc. {{DEFAULTSORT:Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System Comprehensive Assessment System Standardized tests in the United States