Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

MCAS Student Work/Scoring Guides

This page provides access to each released short-response question, open-response question and writing prompt that was included on the MCAS tests from the last five years, the scoring guide that accompanies it, and samples of student work at each score point for that question. Taken together, the questions and writing prompts, the scoring guides, and the corresponding student work provide a picture of the expectations for student performance on the MCAS tests.

Select a year below to view the test questions, scoring guides, and student work from that year.

Select Year: 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |

Scoring Guides for ELA Composition

Below you will find the scoring guides for the ELA Composition (grades 4, 7, 10, and retest) that are used to score student responses to writing prompts in the areas of Topic/Idea Development and Standard English Conventions.

Scoring Guides for ELA Composition

Additional Resources for Schools

Education Board Votes to Postpone History Graduation Requirement