Suggested Schedule for MCAS Spring 2001

Memorandum

To: Superintendents, Principals, Directors of Charter Schools, Chapter 766 Approved Private Schools, Institutional Schools and Educational Collaboratives
From: David P. Driscoll, Commissioner of Education
Date: November 6, 2000

In an effort to help you plan for the spring MCAS 2001 administration, we are providing the following suggested scheduling guidelines. By the end of November you will receive a new document, the Overview of MCAS 2001 Tests, which will include updated information on the number and type of questions on each test, the proportion of questions by content strand, and a few sample questions for MCAS tests that are new this year. As a reminder, MCAS tests will be administered on the following dates:

  • April 5 - 13 Grade 3 Reading
  • April 11 English Language Arts Composition
  • May 10 English Language Arts Composition make-up session
  • May 14 - 25 All other tests (Specifics regarding the grade 10 schedule appears on the second page).

Several weeks prior to the tests we will send you Student Identification forms and, where applicable, student questionnaires, which students will be asked to complete. Students in grade 3 will not have to complete student questionnaires.

Grade 3 - English Language Arts - Reading

Following is a suggested schedule for administering the MCAS grade 3 reading test.

On or
before
Mon.
April 9 		Tues.
April 10 		Wed.
April 11 		Thurs.
April 12 		Fri.
April 13
Complete Student
ID forms
Take practice
tests		 Session 1 Sessions 2 & 3;
make-up session for session 1		 Make-up sessions;
prepare materials
for return and
return if ready		 Final day to return materials

Please keep in mind that this is a suggested schedule, and you may adapt it to meet your needs. (For example, you may administer session 1 on Monday and sessions 2 and 3 on Tuesday.) We recommend that you limit the number of testing sessions to two per day. The only constraint is that you must administer all three sessions during the week of April 9 and ship test materials no later than Friday April 13. In order to meet our goal of reporting grade 3 results by the end of the school year, we will need your cooperation in meeting this timeline.

Grade 4 English Language Arts and Mathematics and Grade 5 Science and Technology/Engineering and History and Social Science

In grades 4 and 5, we suggest administering the tests during the first week of testing, May 14 -18. You may need to schedule make-up sessions during the second week. As a guiding principle, we suggest that you limit the number of sessions to two per day.

Grade 6 Mathematics and Grade 7 English Language Arts

We suggest administering the three mathematics sessions to grade 6 students and the three English language arts sessions to grade 7 students during the first week of testing, May 14 - 18. As a guiding principle, we suggest that you limit the number of session to two per day.

Grade 8 English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Technology/Engineering, History and Social Science

Tests and make-up sessions must be administered during the two-week testing period, May 14 - 25. Plan to carefully pack materials between May 29 and May 31 and return them by the May 31 deadline.

Grades 9 and 10 Science and Technology/Engineering

Because we are restructuring the MCAS science and technology assessment at the secondary level and are transitioning to discipline specific tests, we will administer question tryouts to students in grades 9 and 10 in spring 2001. This is the first year that grade 9 students will participate in MCAS. Question tryouts in biology, chemistry, introductory physics, earth science, and engineering/technology should be administered during the second week of testing, May 21 - 25. Plan to carefully pack materials between May 29 and May 31 and return them by the May 31 deadline. High school principals will receive additional information about the question tryouts in a separate memorandum.

Grade 10 English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Technology/Engineering, History and Social Science

Because of the competency determination requirement this year, all schools are required to test grade 10 students in English language arts and mathematics on the following days: Tuesday May 15, Wednesday. May 16, and Thursday May 17. Within each high school all grade 10 students must be tested at the same time in English language arts and mathematics. The required schedule follows:

Required schedule

On or
before
Mon.
May 14		 Tues.
May 15		 Wed.
May 16		 Thurs.
May 17		 Fri.
May 18
Practice Tests Complete ID Forms ELA
Sessions 1 & 2		 ELA - Session 3
Math - Session 1		 Math
Sessions 2 & 3		 Make-up Sessions

Suggested Schedule for Science and Technology/Engineering and History and Social Science

Mon.
May 21		 Tues.
May 22		 Wed.
May 23		 Thurs.
May 24		 Fri.
May 25
Make-up Sessions History and Social Science Sessions 1 & 2* Questions Tryouts in Science and Technology/ Engineering Make-up Sessions Prepare Materials for Mailing Make-up Sessions Prepare Materials for Mailing

* History and Social Science will be administered in two 60-minute sessions as compared to three 45-minute sessions in the previous two years.

Tests and make-up sessions must be administered during the two-week testing period, May 14 - 25. Plan to designate May 29 to May 31 for carefully packing and returning materials by the May 31 deadline.

Mon. May 28 Tues. May 29 Wed. May 30 Thur. May 31
Holiday Pack and Return Materials Pack and Return Materials Final Day to Return Materials

Number and Length of Sessions for MCAS Tests

The following table indicates the number and minimum length of sessions for tests.

Grade Subject Number of Sessions Recommended Length
of Sessions
3 ELA Reading 3 50 minutes - Session 1
40 minutes - Sessions 2 & 3
4 ELA Composition
ELA Language and Literature		 2
3		 45 minutes per session
60 minutes per session
4 Mathematics 2 60 minutes per session
5 History and Social Science 2 60 minutes per session
5 Science and Technology/Engineering 2 60 minutes per session
6 Mathematics 3 45 minutes sessions
7 ELA Composition
ELA Language and Literature		 2
3		 45 minutes per session
45 minutes per session
8 ELA Composition
ELA Language and Literature		 2
2*		 45 minutes per session
45 minutes per session
8 Mathematics 3 45 minutes per session
8 Science and Technology/Engineering 3 45 minutes per session
8 History and Social Science 3 45 minutes per session
9 Science and Technology/Engineering Tryouts 1 45 minutes per session
10 ELA Composition
ELA Language and Literature		 2
3		 45 minutes per session
45 minutes per session
10 Mathematics 3 45 minutes per session
10 Science and Technology/Engineering Tryouts 1 45 minutes per session
10 History and Social Science 2 60 minutes per session

* The grade 8 ELA Language and Literature test will include common questions only this year. Therefore, only two sessions are required.