Commissioner's Update
December 15, 2009

Dear Superintendents, and Leaders of Charter Schools and Collaboratives:

In this Update I have two announcements and six items for your review.

Competitive Academic Support Grant - Collaborative Partnerships for Student Success - Proposals due January 15, 2010

The Collaborative Partnerships for Student Success (FC 619/592) RFP application is posted at http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/grants10/rfp/619_592.html.

Entities eligible to apply for funds include all public school districts, charter schools, and approved private special education schools and collaboratives serving any students in the classes of 2012-2014 (grades 8 -10) who scored at the Warning or Needs Improvement categories (levels 1 or 2, < 240 scaled score) on their most recent ELA and/or Mathematics MCAS test(s), and/or any students who scored at the Warning or Failing category (level 1, < 220 scaled score) on their most recent Science and Technology/Engineering MCAS.

Eligible entities may apply for up to $30,000 or $50,000, according to a formula based on MCAS scores and district size, to cover costs for planning and running school year and/or summer programs. See RFP documents for full program details, including the funding level for which your district, school, or collaborative is eligible to apply.

Short-response Items on the MCAS Grade 3 ELA Test

Beginning in spring 2010, the grade 3 MCAS ELA test will contain short-response (SR) items that ask students to briefly respond to reading comprehension questions. These SR items will be worth a maximum of two points each.

The addition of this item type will permit the Department to more efficiently assess grade 3 students' reading comprehension by reducing the number of common open-response (OR) items from 2 four-point OR items to 1 four-point OR item. This change is part of our effort to reduce testing time for students in grades 3-8 as described in my April 2009 memorandum http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2009/news/0422growth.doc.

Two-point SR items are scored in a very similar manner to the traditional MCAS four-point OR items. Student scores for the SR items will be based on a two-point rubric that requires demonstration of reading comprehension skills. Sample short-response questions and a scoring rubric are available at www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/tdd/g3sr.html.

If you have any questions, please contact Student Assessment Services at 781-338-3625.

1. Information about the April 2010 MCAS Science and Technology/Engineering Test Administration for students in the Class of 2010
2. MCAS Alternate Assessment Training Opportunities
3. Schedule for Spring 2010 MCAS and MEPA Test Administration Workshops
   [ No longer available ]
4. November 2009 MCAS Retest Results
5. Administrative Apprenticeship/Internship
6. The Advanced Placement Exam Fee Subsidy Program

Sincerely,

Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D.
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education