Assessment and MCAS
Information from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Department of Elementary and Secondary Education information on MCAS, School and District Accountability and Assistance, Compliance/Monitoring, and No Child Left Behind.
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System
The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) is designed to meet the requirements of the Education Reform Law of 1993. This law specifies that the testing program must test all public school students in Massachusetts, including students with disabilities and limited English proficient students, measure performance based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework learning standards, and report on the performance of individual students, schools, and districts. As required by the Education Reform Law, students must pass the grade 10 tests in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics as one condition of eligibility for a high school diploma (in addition to fulfilling local requirements). In addition, the MCAS program is used to hold schools and districts accountable, on a yearly basis, for the progress they have made toward the objective of the No Child Left Behind Law that all students be proficient in Reading and Mathematics by 2014.
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All the test questions on which student results are based, from the last five years
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Schedule for MCAS and MEPA Testing
Accountability
The Massachusetts School and District Accountability and Assistance System is designed to gauge the progress of schools and districts toward helping all students in the Commonwealth achieve grade level proficiency in English language arts and mathematics by 2014, the principal goal of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The system enables policymakers, parents, and the public to assess the effectiveness and monitor the improvement of all public schools and districts, hold school leaders accountable for that performance and improvement, and identify where State intervention is needed.State assistance is delivered through a cohort approach based on the size and type of school districts. The assistance is tailored to meet district needs and is designed to use research based approaches to enhance districts' capacity to improve school performance.School Improvement Grants provide federal school improvement funds to districts to address areas of common need among Title I schools in accountability status.
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Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a measure of the extent to which a student group demonstrates proficiency in English language arts and mathematics.
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