MA adopts next-gen MCAS with PARCC elements as new academic

The MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday voted 8-3 to begin preparations to adopt a next-generation MA Comprehensive Assessment System test for the spring of 2017 that would include elements in the current MCAS with parts of the PARCC.

Under Chester’s recommendation, districts that administered the PARCC test in 2015 would do so again this school year.

The new test, referred to as MCAS 2.0, will be the first overhaul of the standardized tests in almost two decades.

Mr. D’Andrea said he is confident the board will work with schools to make sure the new test is effective. It awarded a one-year renewable contract with a period of performance up to six years to Parcc Inc., which runs the assessment program for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. MCAS will remain the required test for high school graduation through at least the class of 2019, meaning that sophomores will still take it in spring 2017. It will incorporate the online element of the PARCC test but retain control of decision making to the state. At a state forum in July, she said she has a student who struggled during PARCC tryouts but performs well in other areas. Just seven states and the District of Columbia now are administering PARCC, according to a recent survey conducted by the Education Commission of the States. And the new test could still be heavily based on PARCC, the commissioner told reporters in a call last week.

PARCC is aligned with Common Core standards that have been adopted in about 40 states but have become a rallying point for critics who say the standards interfere with states’ abilities to shape their own educational blueprints. The board amended the original proposal so that school districts won’t be held accountable for the online test’s results until 2018.