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MCAS Alternate Assessment (MCAS-Alt)

MCAS-Alt Back-to-School Update September 2026

This MCAS-Alt quarterly update is published by DESE to provide Massachusetts educators with information, guidance, and support as they prepare to administer the MCAS-Alt to students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

1. Fall 2026 Training Opportunities

Educators administering the MCAS-Alt and administrators overseeing the assessment should review the available virtual trainings and attend the sessions appropriate to their roles. The first session, the MCAS-Alt Administrators Overview, will be held on Thursday, October 1. Information about upcoming trainings and registration is available on the Office of Student Assessment Services Training Opportunities webpage.

Educators, even those with prior experience administering the MCAS-Alt, should not begin collecting data until they have participated in the MCAS-Alt 2026–27 Updates training. This training will outline how the MCAS-Alt process has been revised to reduce time and effort in identifying and selecting skills for measurement. All data collection should begin only after educators are fully familiar with these updates.

2. Participation Criteria for the MCAS-Alt

IEP Teams must complete the Alternate Assessment Participation Tool to ensure that only students who meet the definition of a student with the most significant cognitive disabilities participate in the MCAS-Alt. Schools must retain a copy of the Alternate Assessment Participation Tool in the student's records to comply with the requirement described on the MCAS-Alt Eligibility and ESSA webpage.

When a student profile is created on Forms and Graphs, educators will be prompted to include the date the Alternate Assessment Participation Tool was completed (more information on MCAS-Alt Forms and Graphs is in item 4 below).

3. 2027 MCAS-Alt

The MCAS-Alt submission date for the 2026–27 school year is Friday, March 26, 2027. Schools that are closed on March 26 for Good Friday should plan to complete their UPS pickup by March 25. Refer to the recommended timeline in the 2027 Educator's Manual for MCAS-Alt (to be posted on the DESE website) for other important MCAS-Alt dates.

4. MCAS-Alt Forms and Graphs

The MCAS-Alt Forms and Graphs application used by educators to complete the MCAS-Alt will be available on September 15, 2026. Educators must register for a new account for the 2026–27 school year. The platform has been updated to streamline educator workflows and substantially reduce the occurrence of incomplete submissions. Changes to assessment entry points and other improvements are designed to save educators time, strengthen consistency across submissions, and support the efficient completion of required assessment components. These changes will be addressed in all MCAS-Alt virtual trainings.

Thank you for your attention to this important information.

Published bi-monthly during the school year by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

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Last Updated: September 17, 2026



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