Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

Development of the Achievement Levels

With the development of an assessment, new achievement levels were developed through a months-long, comprehensive process. This process consisted of three main parts:

  1. A standard setting policy committee (SSPC) was formed, comprised of educators and administrators from K–12 and higher education, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Members were charged with making recommendations to the Commissioner and the Board on the new achievement levels. The committee's recommendation included the names of the achievement levels, what they signify, and how many there should be.
  2. Recommendations were presented to the Commissioner and the Board on November 29, 2016, after which the Department solicited feedback from stakeholder groups and through an online survey for the public and the educational community, which received 450 responses.
  3. Feedback from the public comment was incorporated into the final drafts and presented to the Board for discussion on February 28, 2017 and for a vote on March 17, 2017.

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Last Updated: January 26, 2022