Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

Release of February 2012 MCAS Biology Results

To:	Superintendents, High School Principals, and Directors of Charter Schools, Approved Private Special Education Schools, Educational Collaboratives, Institutional Programs, and Alternative Adult/External Diploma Programs
From:	Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
Date:	February 13, 2012

The results of the February 2012 MCAS Biology test are scheduled to be available as follows:

March 19	Schools can access student roster reports (.pdf format), and schools and districts can access student data files (.xls and .dat formats) through DropBox Central at the Department's Security Portal at www4.doemass.org/auth/Login/.
March 26	Schools and districts can access student data through the Department's Education Data Warehouse (EDW) at the Security Portal.
May 8	Superintendents and directors receive Parent/Guardian Reports (along with those for the March 2012 retests in English Language Arts and Mathematics).

The Department's Security Portal is password protected. Each district's directory administrator is responsible for assigning the MCAS security role to appropriate district staff. If you need assistance accessing data on the Security Portal, please speak with the directory administrator in your district. A list of directory administrators is available at www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/data/diradmin/list.aspx. Although there will be no official discrepancy reporting period for the February 2012 Biology test prior to the release of the official results, you may report problems with the data (e.g., a missing SASID or results that appear to be assigned to the wrong student) by calling the MCAS Service Center at 800-737-5103 by March 29, 2012. Please bear in mind that students who took the test and are reported without a SASID cannot be designated as graduates in SIMS. As a reminder regarding students who were originally in the class of 2009 or an earlier class, the temporary waiver for meeting the Competency Determination (CD) requirements will expire on July 1, 2012. Please consult my June 11, 2010, memorandum at www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=5586 for details. Please call Student Assessment Services at 781-338-3625 with any questions.

Last Updated: February 15, 2012