Family & Community Students & Families Student and Secondary Support
College and Career Readiness

Educational Proficiency Plan (EPP) and the New MCAS/EPP Test

Many questions have come from the field concerning the annual assessment of students in the Class of 2010 who have scored between 220 and 238 on either or both of the Grade 10 ELA and Mathematics tests. Districts are required to develop an EPP that ensures that students both continue to receive instruction in the subject(s) in which they are not yet Proficient, and that they are assessed to determine their progress.

It is important to note that students with an EPP do not have to demonstrate Proficiency to meet the state graduation requirement but must participate in an annual assessment. This school year, there are three options for fulfilling the required annual EPP assessment component. Accuplacer and a locally developed end-of-course assessment are two options that can be used to measure progress towards proficiency. The third option is the locally scored MCAS/EPP tests. These MCAS/EPP tests, while not required, may enable school districts to certify that students have achieved the Competency Determination standard.

New MCAS/EPP Test

This test is available as an option for assisting students with successfully completing their EPPs. The second opportunity for students to take the MCAS/EPP test is between April 28 - May 8, 2009. Students who participated in the January MCAS/EPP should not take the April/May test. Again, we encourage, but do not require, that school districts include in the April/May test only those students who they have good reason to believe have the capacity to achieve a score at the Proficient level or higher. This step will help reduce the test administration and scoring burden in school districts with high numbers of students on an EPP.

Spring MCAS/EPP Test Administration Schedule

The following table shows the dates on which materials needed to administer and score the April 28-May 8, 2009, MCAS/EPP ELA and Mathematics tests will be posted to the Department's Security Portal.

Scoring MCAS/EPP Tests

School district staff are responsible for scoring tests between May 11 - May 22, 2009. To assist schools in their scoring activities, the Department will post the answers to all multiple-choice questions, an ELA composition scoring rubric, and raw-to-scaled score conversion tables for the MCAS/EPP tests. Additionally, NCS Mentor for MCAS is a computer-based professional development tool that enables educators to learn how to score student responses to the composition writing prompt. This online tool is available to all schools at http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2004/news/1119mentor.html. See Attachment A (below) for guidance on scoring ELA compositions.

Accessing the MCAS EPP DropBox in the Security Portal

The MCAS/EPP test related materials are being posted to the Department's Security Portal, in an MCAS EPP DropBox. Please note that this is a new DropBox created specifically for the MCAS/EPP test administration and for access at the school level. High school principals or other designees responsible for coordinating the administration of the MCAS/EPP tests will need to obtain access to the Department's Security Portal from their district's Directory Administrator. See the Department's Directory Administrator website for general guidelines about providing access to another school district/high school staff member. To access the materials follow the instructions below:

• Go to the Security Portal
• Log in with your user name and password
• Select "DropBox Central" under DropBox
• Select "MCAS EPP" and "next"

The Test Administrator's Manuals and other non secure materials are available at or on request by emailing achievement@doe.mass.edu. Approved Private Special Education School and Collaborative leaders who are interested in having students take the MCAS/EPP test(s) should contact the Department at achievement@doe.mass.edu.

EPP Website Information

" The Department now has an Educational Proficiency Plan (EPP) Web page link on its home page, accessible through the white "--Select Program Area--" drop down menu in the upper right-hand corner of the ESE home page. Updates and resources will be posted on an ongoing basis to this EPP Web page.

If you have questions regarding Educational Proficiency Plans, please contact Nyal Fuentes at

781-338-3593/nfuentes@doe.mass.edu, or Peg Helgaard at 781-338-3524/ mhelgaard@doe.mass.edu.

Last Updated: March 18, 2009