In July 2010, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) voted to adopt Common Core's standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics in place of the state's own standards in these two subjects. The vote was based largely on recommendations by Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester and then Secretary of…

This article features FAST-R, or Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading, a new assessment tool that measures critical-reading skills. FAST-R was developed by the the nonprofit Boston Plan for Excellence (BPE), a local education foundation, to provide teachers with information about what students are thinking when they try to find…

This guide explains the results and other information contained in the "Test Item Analysis Report," the "Test Item Report Summary," the "School Report," and the "District Report" for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests of spring 2002.The report contains these sections: (1)…

This report shares with educators and the public all of the test items on which spring 2002 student results from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are based. The release of these items provides information on the kinds of knowledge and skills students are expected to demonstrate on the MCAS tests. Local educators are…

This overview of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests is designed to help schools implement the Massachusetts"Curriculum Frameworks." For this fourth administration of the MCAS tests in 2001, the design of the tests remains essentially the same, but there are some changes highlighted in this overview. The first…

This publication presents guidelines for parents and educators in making appropriate decisions about participation in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MACS) tests for students with disabilities, and it describes commonly used test accommodations. State law requires the participation in MCAS of all students who are educated with…

This guide explains results and other information contained in the "Test Item Analysis Report," the "School Report," and the "District Report" for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests for spring 1999. It is designed to help teachers, administrators, and parents understand the MCAS testing…

This guide explains results and other information in the "Test Item Analysis Report," the "School Report," and the "District Report" for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests for spring 2000. It is designed to help superintendents, principals, and other administrators as they review the…

Scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests are used to select exemplary schools in Massachusetts, and the schools thus identified can receive awards from three different programs. This study examined the evidence about the use of MCAS scores to assess school quality. These three programs use MCAS to identify exemplary…

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System is a damaging and dangerous "reform" with fundamental flaws: assumptions that all children undergo the same developmental process and that everyone requires the same knowledge to be successful; the fact that the guide and exams cover irrelevant material; and the idea that testing is…

The studies reported here focus on the effects of mode of administration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) in grades 4, 8, and 10. These studies, which draw on earlier studies, also examine the mode of administration effect at different levels of keyboarding speed and for students who received special education (SPED)…

This paper makes the case that the high-stakes testing and accountability program currently in place in Massachusetts misuses scores from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) to select particular schools as exemplary. School awards and recognition programs in Massachusetts imply that score gains are equivalent to school…

This manual documents the technical aspects of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). In May 1999, Massachusetts public school students in grades 4, 8, and 10 participated in the second annual administration of the MCAS tests in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science & Technology. This report provides information…

The aim of this study was to look at the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) data for 10th graders from 1998 and investigate whether these differences were significant when using the mathematics and science achievement scores. In addition, the variables of socioeconomic status, gender, and types of courses taken in mathematics and…

This pamphlet explains a child's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) "Student Report for Parents/Guardians." In spring 1999, more than 210,000 students from grades 4, 8, and 10 in Massachusetts took the state's MCAS tests. All public students in grades 4, 8, and 10 are required to participate, and the Education Reform…