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MCAS Future Directions General Survey

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is inviting educators, parents, current and former students, and other community members to participate in this survey. It will provide feedback on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) to help inform the future direction of the testing program. The survey should take about 10 minutes or less to complete. We will be collecting responses through Friday, January 27 at 5:00 p.m. Please contact the Office of Student Assessment Services at mcas@doe.mass.edu with any questions.

1. Please select your role(s). Choose all that apply.

Superintendent/Assistant Superintendent
MCAS test coordinator
Principal/Assistant Principal
Teacher
Curriculum coordinator
Other school or district staff
Parent or guardian
Current or former Massachusetts student
Community member

2. Please select the way(s) in which you have interacted with the MCAS testing program. Choose all that apply.

In my professional role
As a parent or guardian
As a student
Other (Please specify.) Please enter an 'other' value for this selection.

3. Please select the district in which you work.

3. Please specify your district here.

3. Please select the school district that corresponds with your city or town of residence.

3. Please specify your district here.

Communications and Support

3. DESE communicates important information about the MCAS testing program through the MCAS website. School and district staff also access information through the biweekly Student Assessment Update newsletter and the MCAS Resource Center.

Have you viewed the MCAS website, Student Assessment Update, or MCAS Resource Center?

4. Consider the ease with which you are able to find necessary MCAS information in the locations described in the previous question.

How easily can you find MCAS policies and other important information?

4. The DESE Office of Student Assessment Services staff are available by phone at 781-338-3625 or email at mcas@doe.mass.edu to answer questions, including questions about test results and student participation.

Have you contacted the DESE Office of Student Assessment Services?

5. How satisfied are you with the level of service provided by the DESE Office of Student Assessment Services?

Accessibility and Accommodations

5. When taking MCAS tests, all students may use a range of accessibility features on the computer-based versions (e.g., using a highlighter, flagging a test question to come back to it later). In addition, students with disabilities and English learner (EL) students are provided any necessary accommodations to access the tests (e.g., a paper-based version of the test, or a Braille edition for students who are blind or visually impaired). (For more information about the accommodations available, see the Accessibility and Accommodations Manual.)

How satisfied are you with the range of accessibility features and accommodations that are available to students for MCAS testing?

6. Please use the space provided to provide any specific and actionable feedback you have regarding MCAS accessibility features and accommodations.

6. DESE currently provides Spanish/English versions of high school mathematics and science and technology/engineering (STE) assessments as an accommodation for English learners who have been in the U.S. for less than three years. If DESE decided to add additional versions of the MCAS tests in languages other than English, which of the following would be most important to you?

Data and Reporting

7. School and district staff can access results from MCAS tests through DropBox Central and Edwin Analytics, and Parent/Guardian Reports and released student essays in PearsonAccess Next. Aggregate results are also publicly available on School and District Profiles.

How satisfied are you with the reports and data that are available?

7. What other information would you like to see provided?

7. Parents receive MCAS Parent/Guardian Reports each year with their child’s MCAS test results. The reports show information such as the child’s score, their achievement compared to the school, district, and state, and information about how they performed on each test question.

How satisfied are you with the information that is provided on the reports?

7. What other information would you like to see included on the Parent/Guardian Report?

7. If DESE decided to make changes to how it reports results, what enhancements would you like to see?

Please select how important each of the following possible reporting enhancements is to you.

Space Cell	Very important	Somewhat important	Not very important	Not important at all	No opinion/don't know
DESE-provided online portal for parents/guardians to access MCAS results	DESE-provided online portal for parents/guardians to access MCAS results: Very important	DESE-provided online portal for parents/guardians to access MCAS results: Somewhat important	DESE-provided online portal for parents/guardians to access MCAS results: Not very important	DESE-provided online portal for parents/guardians to access MCAS results: Not important at all	DESE-provided online portal for parents/guardians to access MCAS results: No opinion/don't know
Integration of MCAS results with districts' data and reporting systems (e.g., access to MCAS results for families within districts' family portals)	Integration of MCAS results with districts' data and reporting systems (e.g., access to MCAS results for families within districts' family portals): Very important	Integration of MCAS results with districts' data and reporting systems (e.g., access to MCAS results for families within districts' family portals): Somewhat important	Integration of MCAS results with districts' data and reporting systems (e.g., access to MCAS results for families within districts' family portals): Not very important	Integration of MCAS results with districts' data and reporting systems (e.g., access to MCAS results for families within districts' family portals): Not important at all	Integration of MCAS results with districts' data and reporting systems (e.g., access to MCAS results for families within districts' family portals): No opinion/don't know
Additional translations for Parent/Guardian Report templates (DESE currently provides translations in the 10 most-frequent non-English languages statewide.)	Additional translations for Parent/Guardian Report templates (DESE currently provides translations in the 10 most-frequent non-English languages statewide.) : Very important	Additional translations for Parent/Guardian Report templates (DESE currently provides translations in the 10 most-frequent non-English languages statewide.) : Somewhat important	Additional translations for Parent/Guardian Report templates (DESE currently provides translations in the 10 most-frequent non-English languages statewide.) : Not very important	Additional translations for Parent/Guardian Report templates (DESE currently provides translations in the 10 most-frequent non-English languages statewide.) : Not important at all	Additional translations for Parent/Guardian Report templates (DESE currently provides translations in the 10 most-frequent non-English languages statewide.) : No opinion/don't know

Practice Tests and Released Test Questions
DESE provides both practice tests and released questions, which are available through the DESE website, the MCAS Resource Center, and the MCAS Digital Item Library.

8. Have you ever used the practice tests?

9. If DESE decided to make changes or updates to the practice tests, what enhancements would you like to see?

Please select how important each of the following is to you.

Space Cell	Very important	Somewhat important	Not very important	Not important at all	No opinion/don't know
Creating additional or longer practice tests	Creating additional or longer practice tests: Very important	Creating additional or longer practice tests: Somewhat important	Creating additional or longer practice tests: Not very important	Creating additional or longer practice tests: Not important at all	Creating additional or longer practice tests: No opinion/don't know
Ensuring all item types are represented on practice tests	Ensuring all item types are represented on practice tests: Very important	Ensuring all item types are represented on practice tests: Somewhat important	Ensuring all item types are represented on practice tests: Not very important	Ensuring all item types are represented on practice tests: Not important at all	Ensuring all item types are represented on practice tests: No opinion/don't know
Ensuring that each practice test covers all the standards for that grade or subject	Ensuring that each practice test covers all the standards for that grade or subject: Very important	Ensuring that each practice test covers all the standards for that grade or subject: Somewhat important	Ensuring that each practice test covers all the standards for that grade or subject: Not very important	Ensuring that each practice test covers all the standards for that grade or subject: Not important at all	Ensuring that each practice test covers all the standards for that grade or subject: No opinion/don't know

9. Have you ever used the released items?

10. How satisfied are you with the different ways that the released questions are provided?

10. How do you use the released test questions? Choose all that apply.

Practice with students in my school or district
Practice with my child at home
View with staff or colleagues to support curriculum and instruction
Use them to better understand MCAS test results
Other (Please specify.) Please enter an 'other' value for this selection.

Assessment Features and Innovations

10. DESE is currently piloting new tests in STE in grades 5 and 8 and civics in grade 8. These new testing models include features such as simulations, and classroom-based formative assessments.

Please select which features you are most interested in seeing on MCAS tests in the future.

Space Cell	Very interested	Somewhat interested	Not very interested	Not interested at all	No opinion/don't know
Interactive simulations	Interactive simulations: Very interested	Interactive simulations: Somewhat interested	Interactive simulations: Not very interested	Interactive simulations: Not interested at all	Interactive simulations: No opinion/don't know
Videos and animations	Videos and animations: Very interested	Videos and animations: Somewhat interested	Videos and animations: Not very interested	Videos and animations: Not interested at all	Videos and animations: No opinion/don't know
Ability for students to create their own computer-based diagrams and graphs	Ability for students to create their own computer-based diagrams and graphs: Very interested	Ability for students to create their own computer-based diagrams and graphs: Somewhat interested	Ability for students to create their own computer-based diagrams and graphs: Not very interested	Ability for students to create their own computer-based diagrams and graphs: Not interested at all	Ability for students to create their own computer-based diagrams and graphs: No opinion/don't know
Formative assessment tools provided alongside the state assessment	Formative assessment tools provided alongside the state assessment : Very interested	Formative assessment tools provided alongside the state assessment : Somewhat interested	Formative assessment tools provided alongside the state assessment : Not very interested	Formative assessment tools provided alongside the state assessment : Not interested at all	Formative assessment tools provided alongside the state assessment : No opinion/don't know

Professional Development and Assessment

11. If DESE were to provide professional development opportunities around assessment, which areas would you be interested in seeing offered?

Space Cell	Very interested	Somewhat interested	Not very interested	Not interested at all	No opinion/don't know
Research-based practices in creating classroom tests and test questions	Research-based practices in creating classroom tests and test questions : Very interested	Research-based practices in creating classroom tests and test questions : Somewhat interested	Research-based practices in creating classroom tests and test questions : Not very interested	Research-based practices in creating classroom tests and test questions : Not interested at all	Research-based practices in creating classroom tests and test questions : No opinion/don't know
Additional information about understanding MCAS data and results	Additional information about understanding MCAS data and results: Very interested	Additional information about understanding MCAS data and results: Somewhat interested	Additional information about understanding MCAS data and results: Not very interested	Additional information about understanding MCAS data and results: Not interested at all	Additional information about understanding MCAS data and results: No opinion/don't know
Scoring of student constructed-responses	Scoring of student constructed-responses: Very interested	Scoring of student constructed-responses: Somewhat interested	Scoring of student constructed-responses: Not very interested	Scoring of student constructed-responses: Not interested at all	Scoring of student constructed-responses: No opinion/don't know
Scoring of student essays	Scoring of student essays: Very interested	Scoring of student essays: Somewhat interested	Scoring of student essays: Not very interested	Scoring of student essays: Not interested at all	Scoring of student essays: No opinion/don't know
Enter another option	Other: Very interested	Other: Somewhat interested	Other: Not very interested	Other: Not interested at all	Other: No opinion/don't know

General Feedback

11. Please use the space provided to share any specific and actionable feedback you have on future directions for MCAS, either about the topics above or any other aspects of MCAS testing.