Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

About the MCAS

Massachusetts's standards-based statewide testing program helps educators, parents, and students know where students are excelling and where they need help.

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests are given to students in grades 3–8 and high school in English language arts (ELA), mathematics, science and technology/engineering (STE), and civics. Students must earn a passing score on the high school tests to complete the statewide competency determination for high school graduation.

Introduced with education reform in the early 1990s, MCAS is designed to ensure high learning standards in schools and to measure a student's knowledge of key concepts and skills based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Since 2017, the MCAS has been expanded and improved to better measure the critical skills students need for success in the 21st century: deeper understanding, knowledge application, synthesizing, and writing.

Learn more about why testing matters.

Finding and Understanding MCAS Results

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).

MCAS Data Trends — Use interactive charts to view trends in achievement over time and compare results among student groups, grades, subjects, and schools.

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 MCAS results are not published publicly. They are reported to students' schools, and Parent/Guardian Reports are sent by districts to families and caregivers.

Last Updated: September 17, 2024