Assessment/Accountability
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

MCAS Student Work/Scoring Guides

Below you will find each open-response question and writing prompt that was included on the MCAS tests, the scoring guide that accompanies it, and samples of student work at each score point for that question. (Note: Student work samples from 2006 and 2007 in English Language Arts Composition and Reading Comprehension include annotations at all grade levels and score points.)

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: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

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

	MCAS Guide to History and Social Science Assessments
	NCS Mentor for MCAS Professional Development Tool NCS Mentor for MCAS is a computer-based professional development tool that allows educators to learn how to score student responses to MCAS open-response questions and composition writing prompts.