1. Administrator of Inclusive Assessment
MCAS-Alt Update:
What’s New for 2018?
Dan Wiener
Administrator of Inclusive Assessment
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2. Schedule for the Day
Teachers with no recent or prior MCAS-Alt experience should attend:
Introduction to MCAS-Alt (8:30 am—12:30 pm)
Teachers with MCAS-Alt experience (8:30 am—12:30 pm) should attend
MCAS-Alt Update (What’s New for 2018?)
Plus, as many of these mini-sessions as you wish:
Setting the Stage: Measurable Outcomes
ELAWriting: Text Types, Communication Systems, and Using the Scoring Rubric
Raising the Bar/Debunking Myths: Scoring and Data Charts
Competency and Grade-level Portfolios: Portfolios for students working at or close to grade-level
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

3. MCAS-Alt–What’s New for 2018?
Flash drives and other handouts
Teacher Survey Results
2017 MCAS-Alt Statewide Results
Overall Scores and Trends
ELAWriting: Improvements
What We Observed at the Scoring Institute
New and Notable2018 Educator’s Manual (pp. 3-4)
Updated Resource Guides (Fall 2017)
ELA/Math: refinements to standards
Science and Tech/Eng: new Resource Guide in Fall 2018
ESSA and MCAS-Alt
Technology and MCAS-Alt (Demonstration)
Online Forms and Graphs
Digital evidence
E-newsletter
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

4. 2017 MCAS-Alt Teacher Survey: Responses
95% (2,357) of lead teachers (2,478) responded to survey.
How many portfolios did each teacher submit?
85% submitted 1-6
61% submitted 1-3 (up 2% from 2015)
24% submitted 4-6
11% submitted 7-10
4% (93 respondents) submitted more than 10
24.2% did MCAS-Alt for the first time in 2017.
41% had help from other special educator; 49% from aide; 23% from student.
46.9% had classroom coverage or flex time.
98.9% teach standards-based knowledge and skills at times other than portfolio creation.
96% used data collection methods for other instruction.

5. MCAS-Alt Participation, Educator Training, and Score Appeals Summary
8,541 MCAS-Alt portfolios were submitted in 2017 (down 204 from 2016)
51,063 strands were scored
5,372 educators participated in 17 face-to-face training sessions last year.
409 MCAS-Alt score appeals submitted last June.
87 approved (21.3%); 322 denied (78.7%)
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

6. 2015-2017 MCAS-Alt: Statewide Results (All Content Areas - All Grades)
2016
2017
75.95%
70.37%
70.35%
20.46%
19.12%
12.40%
10.68%
9.10%
7.83%
1.31%
1.22%
.83%
.13%
.14%
.10%
Incomplete
Awareness
Emerging
Progressing
Partially Meeting Expectations/Needs
Improvement+
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

7. Partially Meeting Expectations/Needs
English Language Arts: 20152017 MCAS-Alt Results (Year 2 of Writing Strand)
75.00%
2015
2016
2017
60.83%
56.55%
36.35%
32.40%
12.60%
11.37%
5.37%
5.05%
1.63%
1.71%
.72%
.05%
.11%
.01%
Incomplete
Awareness
Emerging
Progressing
Partially Meeting Expectations/Needs
Improvement+
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

8. What We Observed at the Scoring Institute
Improvements noted:
Scorers appreciated
Use of divider tabs between strands
Fewer page protectors, but still too many
Comments (self-eval) and introductions from students
Generally well-organized portfolios
For digital evidence, flash drives worked better than CDs
More effective use of teacher-scribed work samples.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

9. Example of Teacher-Scribed Work Sample
Measurable Outcome: Within 15 seconds after a teacher reads picture stories, student will give materials related to vocabulary acquisition (e.g., vocabulary cards) to another person with 80% accuracy and independence.
Brief descriptions of each activity, materials used, and student’s responses.
2017 MCAS-Alt Scorer Training
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

10. What We Observed at the Scoring Institute
Improvements needed:
Description of activities did not always match the skill(s) in the measurable outcome.
Dates were listed when school was not in session.
Entry points sometimes were unmatched, altered excessively, or could not be found in Resource Guide.
Clarity on how the skill was assessed.
Some percentages of accuracy and independence were mathematically impossible.
E.g., Student solved 4 problems, with 66% accuracy and 37% independence.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

11. ELAWriting Observations
Three different final writing samples with three pre-scored rubrics required, but sometimes missing.
Teacher’s pre-scored rubric was sometimes scored too high and sometimes too low.
Review writing rubric descriptions for each score.
Score only the student’s contribution to the work.
NEW for 2018:
A place to enter the student’s name, date, and percent independence have been added to the Writing rubric.
Only one baseline writing sample is required, regardless of writing types submitted.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

12. Mathematics Domains (Pre-KGrade 8)PK K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Counting and Cardinality
Operations and Algebraic Thinking 
Number and Operations in Base Ten
Number and Operations - Fractions
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
The Number System
Expressions and Equations
Measurement and Data
Functions
Geometry
Statistics and Probability
KEY
= Assessed by MCAS-Alt
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

13. High School Mathematics NEW! Spiral Back to Earlier DomainsPK K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
High School
Domains
Conceptual Categories
The Number System
Number and Quantity
Expressions & Equations
Algebra
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
Functions
Geometry
Statistics and Probability

14. Science and Technology/Engineering
New Science and Tech/Eng standards were approved in April 2016.
STE Resource Guide will be revised for 2019 MCAS-Alt.
Use the current version for 2018.
Fall 2017 STE Resource Guide (flash drive)
Other STE resources available at
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

15. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and MCAS-Alt
Beginning in , ESSA places a statewide cap of 1 percent of students eligible for MCAS on the number of students who take the MCAS-Alt (not including Grade-Level or Competency portfolios).
The Department is not asking IEP teams to “take students off the alternate assessment.”
This as an opportunity to revisit and refine decision- making regarding who takes the MCAS-Alt.
Can student take standard MCAS assessments, especially new online tests, with accessibility features and accommodations?
Can student submit a "grade-level" or "competency" portfolio instead?
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

16. ESE has posted a Notice and Resources last March at www. doe. mass
ESE has posted a Notice and Resources last March at
This is also available on your flash drive:
Commissioner’s Memo, guidance, and criteria for designating students for MCAS-Alt, plus 2016 district data
Annual presentation for training IEP teams (Powerpoint)
A sample parent notification letter (Grade 4 and higher)
Parents must be notified that “participation in alternate assessment may eventually delay or affect student’s ability to earn a diploma.”
A request for justification to ESE if a district will exceed one percent in 2018; and assurances that
Teams will be trained on the criteria.
Students taking MCAS-Alt will be taught the general curriculum.
Grade-level/competency portfolio, or online MCAS test, will be considered.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

17. “Decision Tree”
Decision-making tool to guide IEP teams in determining who should take the MCAS-Alt (Flash drive and Educator’s Manual for MCAS-Alt, p.12)
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

18. Criteria that should not be used alone to designate a student for MCAS-Alt
A student should not take MCAS-Alt based solely on whether he/she:
has not been provided instruction in the general curriculum;
has a specific disability (e.g., all students with intellectual disabilities should not automatically take the MCAS-Alt);
is placed in a program or classroom where it is expected that students will take the MCAS-Alt;
has taken an alternate assessment previously (since this is an annual decision);
has previously failed the MCAS test;
is an English language learner (ELL);
is from a low-income family or is a child in foster care;
requires use of an alternative augmentative communication system
attends a school in which the IEP team was unduly influenced to designate the student for MCAS-Alt in order to receive more credit for school accountability.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

19. NOW AVAILABLE! Principal’s Manual for MCAS-Alt
Principal’s Manual for MCAS-Alt includes information and guidance on:
Supporting teachers and monitoring their progress
Procedures and deadlines for ordering, submission, score appeals, etc.
Timeline for storage and destruction of returned portfolios
Will be discussed at Administrators Overview sessions in October
Available on your flash drive in the Administrators folder
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

20. Technology Update Online Forms and Graphs
Digital submission of portfolio evidence
Electronic newsletter
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

21. Dates to Remember
Educator Training Sessions: Sept. 25, 26, Oct. 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 17 (8:30 a.m.Noon)
Administrator Overview: Oct. 10, 11, 12, 17 (1:303:00 p.m.)
“Portfolios in Progress” (half-day review sessions):
January 8 (Springfield), 9 (Marlboro), 17 (Taunton), 18 (Danvers)
Feb. 13 (Springfield), 14 (Marlboro), 27 (Taunton), (Danvers)
Order MCAS-Alt materials: Jan. 819, 2018
Binders received in schools: last week in Feb.
Portfolios due: Thursday, March 29, 2018
Preliminary results: posted in mid-June
MCAS-Alt Score Appeals deadline: June 22

22. MCAS Web Page

23. Contact Information
MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education – Student Assessment ( )
Dan Wiener, Administrator of Inclusive Assessment
Debra Hand –
General Inquiries –
Measured Progress
MCAS Service Center –
Kevin Froton –
Terri Rippett –
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

24. Questions?