News Article - Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

For Immediate Release
Friday, April 17, 2009
Contact:	Heidi Guarino 781-338-3106 or JC Considine 781-338-3112

Measured Progress Awarded 5-Year, $146 Million MCAS Contract

MALDEN - Measured Progress of Dover, N.H. has been awarded a 5-year, $146 million contract to develop, administer, score and report results of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and MCAS-Alternative Assessment. Measured Progress is the Commonwealth's current contractor for the MCAS program. The company's bid for the next five year contract fell below the maximum bid $162,500,000 allowed by the Request for Responses (RFR). "We have been very pleased with the work of Measured Progress to date, and I am glad that we will be able to continue our relationship," said Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester. "They are going to play an important role as we move forward in our development of the next phase of MCAS." Under the new contract, the testing company will be responsible for supporting the existing MCAS testing program, as well as implementing improvements to the program. Among the program enhancements the company will be responsible for is a reduction in overall testing time for students and a reduced timeline for the return of student results from fall to the end of the academic year in which the tests are administered. The RFR was issued in October, 2008. Five contractors expressed initial interest, three submitted questions and only Measured Progress submitted a full proposal. An 11-member team of Department staff and external education stakeholders reviewed the proposal and recommended that the contract award be made to Measured Progress. Contract negotiations were completed this week. The contract officially begins on January 1, 2010 and will run through December 31, 2014.

Last Updated: April 17, 2009