The Office of Teaching and Learning supports all of the curriculum, instruction and professional development in the district.
Visit the Teaching & Learning Team page to learn more about the curriculum team members led by Dr. Turner, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning.
MCAS and Assessment
The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) is a set of statewide standardized tests. Students in grades 3-8 and 10 take MCAS tests in English language arts and mathematics; students in grades 5, 8, and one high school grade (usually grade 9 or 10) take a science MCAS test. Students in grade 8 take a civics MCAS test.
Statewide testing gives families an objective measure of their child's and school's progress and is one way for taxpayers to see the results of their investment in schools. State test scores are just one piece of a student's academic picture, but they provide important information. In addition, federal and state laws require statewide testing.
MCAS assessments are based on the state's learning standards. Students score in one of four categories: Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Partially Meeting Expectations, and Not Meeting Expectations. Educators from each grade level helped determine the scoring range for each category. A student's score indicates the extent to which they are meeting expectations for their grade level. MCAS tests are not graded on a curve.
A variety of accessibility features and accommodations are available as needed for all students and for students with disabilities. These can include a text-to-speech reader, paper-based tests, a different testing environment, or other options. In addition, accommodations such as bilingual word-to-word dictionaries and glossaries are available for multilingual learners as needed.
At the high school level, math and science MCAS tests are available in Spanish. Beginning in 2025, students in grades 3–8 will also be able to take math, science, and civics tests in Spanish.
English learners must participate in all MCAS testing scheduled for their grade, with the exception of English learners who are in their first year of enrollment in U.S. schools. For those students, ELA testing is optional. (Note: MCAS results for first-year English learners are not included in the accountability calculations for their school or district.)
Finding and Understanding MCAS Results
MCAS results for all schools and districts in the state are publicly available using the following resources:
School and District Profiles — Search school and district results by year, including achievement levels, average scaled scores, and average Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs).
MCAS Data Trends — Use interactive charts to view trends in achievement over time and compare results among student groups, grades, subjects, and schools.
Students' individual MCAS results are not published publicly. They are reported to students' schools, and Parent/Guardian Reports are sent by districts to families and caregivers.
For a report on Melrose students' performance, please see the following: 2024 Melrose Public Schools' MCAS School Committee Executive Summary
**Important Update: In November of 2024, ballot question 2 eliminated the requirement that students pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) in order to graduate high school, but still requires students to complete coursework that meets state standards. This completion of coursework is known as the Competency Determination (CD). MPS is still developing the specific guidelines for their local Competency Determination (CD) and will share that information as soon as it become available.
In addition to MCAS testing, students in MPS also participate in locally administered assessments for diagnostic and benchmarking purposes. The assessment calendars for those measures are linked below.