What is the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS? The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) is a set of statewide standardized tests. Students in grades 3–8 and 10 take Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS tests in English language arts and mathematics; students in grades 5, 8, and one high school grade (usually grade 9 or 10) take a science Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS test. Students in grade 8 take a civics Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS test.
Why does Massachusetts give Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS tests? Statewide testing gives families an objective measure of their child's and school's progress and is one way for taxpayers to see the results of their investment in schools. State test scores are just one piece of a student's academic picture, but they provide important information. In addition, federal and state laws require statewide testing.
Does Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS determine whether students progress to the next grade level? No.
Who creates the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS questions? Test contractors, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE staff, and more than 250 educators annually all help create and review test questions.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE has Assessment Development Committees (ADCs) and a Bias and Sensitivity Committee (BSC) composed of classroom teachers and administrators, academic support specialists, and university faculty who edit and revise the questions. Committee members represent schools and districts from across the state, including rural, suburban, and urban communities. In addition, members are selected to represent different types of school districts, including charter schools and vocational schools.
Can I see test questions? Yes, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE makes many previous test questions available online.
How are the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS tests scored? Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS assessments are based on the state's learning standards. Students score in one of four categories: Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Partially Meeting Expectations, and Not Meeting Expectations. Educators from each grade level helped determine the scoring range for each category. A student's score indicates the extent to which they are meeting expectations for their grade level. Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS tests are not graded on a curve.
Is Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS a multiple-choice test? Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS tests are given on a computer and have a variety of question formats, including multiple choice, short answers, and essays.
Are Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS tests timed? No. Students have as much time as they need within a regular school day.
Are there accommodations for students with disabilities? Yes, a variety of accessibility features and accommodations are available as needed for all students and for students with disabilities. These can include a text-to-speech reader, paper-based tests, a different testing environment, or other options.
What about multilingual learners who are still learning English? Accommodations such as bilingual word-to-word dictionaries and glossaries are available for multilingual learners as needed.
The math, science, and civics Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS tests are available in Spanish.
English learners must participate in all Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS testing scheduled for their grade, with the exception of English learners who are in their first year of enrollment in United States U.S. schools. For those students, English Language Arts ELA testing is optional. (Note: Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS results for first-year English learners are not included in the accountability calculations for their school or district.)
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS results for all schools and districts in the state are publicly available using the following resources:
School and District Profiles — Search school and district results by year, including achievement levels, average scaled scores, and average Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs).
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS Data Trends — Use interactive charts to view trends in achievement over time and compare results among student groups, grades, subjects, and schools.
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS Achievement Results dataset — (Most appropriate for data analysts and researchers) Access results of tests administered since 2017 in a single multi-year dataset ready for export and analysis.
Students' individual Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS results are not published publicly. They are reported to students' schools, and reports are sent by districts to families and caregivers.
Last Updated: August 4, 2025
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