Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

Testing Mode Decisions for the Spring 2018 Grades 3-8 MCAS Tests

Background

As part of the transition to statewide computer-based testing, students in grades 4, 5, 7, and 8 are expected to take computer-based MCAS tests in spring 2018 in ELA, Mathematics, and STE for grades 5 and 8, with exceptions for students who require a paper-and-pencil accommodation. For the small number of schools unable to meet this expectation, districts submitted a waiver request. For grades 3 and 6, districts were able to choose to do either computer- or paper-based testing (CBT or PBT), and districts were permitted to make this decision by school, grade, and subject area (e.g., PBT for ELA and CBT for Mathematics for school A for grade 6). In spring 2018, the grade 10 ELA and Mathematics tests and the high school Science and Technology/Engineering (STE) tests remain paper-based only. The grade 10 ELA and Mathematics tests will be computer-based in spring 2019, and in preparation, students will participate in computer-based field tests this spring. The STE tests follow a different transition plan, and students will take computer-based question tryouts this spring.

Summary of Testing Mode Decisions (Public Schools)

	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5	Grade 6	Grade 7	Grade 8
Public schools doing CBT	64%	99%	98%	79%	97%	98%
Public schools doing PBT	36%	1%	2%	21%	3%	2%
Total number of public schools	1,051	1,033	998	696	611	609

District and School Testing Mode Decisions

In the file showing schools' testing mode, the following abbreviations are used for each grade/subject area test:

CBT, when a school is doing computer-based testing
PBT, when a school is doing paper-based testing
ACC, when a school (typically outplacements) is doing PBT because all the students in that grade need the accommodation for paper-based testing
NA, when a school does not have that grade or the grade is doing the MCAS-Alt instead of the standard MCAS computer-based or paper-based tests

Last Updated: December 5, 2017