As school districts across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts were closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year due to the Coronavirus epidemic, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) altered options regarding standardized testing requirements for students currently in or about to enter high school.
Recently, the state Board of Education took action and determined that students in the Class of 2022 (current sophomores) will take the English Language Arts and Mathematics MCAS Exams as 11th graders during the winter of the 2020-2021 school year. Students in the Class of 2023 (current freshmen) will take the English Language Arts and Mathematics MCAS Exams as 10th graders during the spring of 2021, which follows the traditional spring MCAS schedule.
The state Board of Education has also determined that students in the Classes of 2022 and 2023 (current 9th and 10th graders) will not take the Science MCAS Exam. Students in the Class of 2024 (current 8th graders) will take the Science MCAS Exam at the end of 9th or 10th grade depending on which science they elect to take at BVT.
The state Board of Education will determine at a future date the specifics students will need to accomplish in their Science classes to earn their Competency Determination (graduation requirement) and state scholarship achievement levels. All MCAS schedules and specifics will be posted once made available from the DESE.
MCASDo you know what test has the biggest impact on earning your high school diploma? The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) is a standardized test administered to all students in Massachusetts educated with public funds. You must earn a scaled score of at least the equivalent of a 240 on both the sophomore ELA and the sophomore Mathematics MCAS or score between the equivalent of a 220 and 238 on both tests and meet the requirements of an Educational Proficiency Plan (EPP) as part of earning a high school diploma.