MCAS Exams Getting First Overhaul In Nearly 20 Years
EVERETT (CBS) -- State education officials are continuing the process of a major overhaul of the statewide Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam.
At a state Board of Education meeting in Everett Tuesday, Deputy Education Commissioner Jeff Wulfson said the changes are coming because the Board of Education is finding that many students are not well enough prepared for college, despite passing the MCAS.
"We're going to be spending the next six months designing the new tests," Wulfson told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope. "This will only be for grades 3-8. High school tests will take a little bit longer to change, because those are high states for high school students, and we want to give them plenty of notice when there's going to be a new test that they need to pass for graduation."
The test has been tweaked each year, but it hasn't had a major reassessment since it came to be nearly two decades ago.
Wulfson says they're looking for a contractor to make those revisions.
"They will not only help us design the test, but they'll be responsible for administering the test, and for scoring the test under our direction," said Wulfson . "We have two major testing companies that have both submitted bids. We're evaluating those, and we expect to have a contractor selected by the middle of the summer."
The MCAS changes are set to go into effect next spring.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope reports