The Scoring Overview
*Credit to Fictional Student Score Report: http://www.mcasservicecenter.com/documents/MA/Technical%20Report/2011/Appendix%20Q%20-%20Sample%20Reports%20-%20MCAS.pdf
Scaled Score:
This score is indicated as a number between 200 and 280, and it represents how well your child did on that subject area of the test.
The closer the score is to 280, the better your child did on the test.
Example: Payden Anderson performed the best on the English Language Arts subject area of the test. His scaled score is the highest in this area in comparison to the mathematics and biology subject areas.
Grade 3 score reports do not include scaled scores. Instead, a child's performance level is based on raw scores. A raw score is the number of points a student received on any given part of the test. These scores are not adjusted to allow comparisons among your child and the school, district, state, etc.
Grades 4-8 and Grade 10 use scaled scores as seen above. These scaled scores are also known as standard scores. Standard scores are not raw scores. Theses scores are adjusted so that comparisons (between students, classes, schools, school districts, the state, etc.) can be made.
The closer the score is to 280, the better your child did on the test.
Example: Payden Anderson performed the best on the English Language Arts subject area of the test. His scaled score is the highest in this area in comparison to the mathematics and biology subject areas.
Grade 3 score reports do not include scaled scores. Instead, a child's performance level is based on raw scores. A raw score is the number of points a student received on any given part of the test. These scores are not adjusted to allow comparisons among your child and the school, district, state, etc.
Grades 4-8 and Grade 10 use scaled scores as seen above. These scaled scores are also known as standard scores. Standard scores are not raw scores. Theses scores are adjusted so that comparisons (between students, classes, schools, school districts, the state, etc.) can be made.
Performance Levels:
Performance Levels are determined based on the scaled scores. Each performance level has a corresponding scaled score range.
Advanced:
Scaled Score range: 260-280
Proficient:
Scaled Score range: 240-258
Needs Improvement:
Scaled Score range: 220-238
Warning and Failing:
Scaled Score range: 200-218
Example: Payden's performance level for English Language Arts was "Proficient" because his scaled score was 248, which falls in the "Proficient" range of 240-258.
Passing the grade 10 MCAS exam is a graduation requirement in the state of Massachusetts. In order to earn a high school diploma, students must receive a score of at least 240 on the grade 10 mathematics and ELA exams and a score of at least 220 on one of the high school Science, Technology, and Engineering exams.
Advanced:
Scaled Score range: 260-280
Proficient:
Scaled Score range: 240-258
Needs Improvement:
Scaled Score range: 220-238
Warning and Failing:
Scaled Score range: 200-218
Example: Payden's performance level for English Language Arts was "Proficient" because his scaled score was 248, which falls in the "Proficient" range of 240-258.
Passing the grade 10 MCAS exam is a graduation requirement in the state of Massachusetts. In order to earn a high school diploma, students must receive a score of at least 240 on the grade 10 mathematics and ELA exams and a score of at least 220 on one of the high school Science, Technology, and Engineering exams.
Student Growth Percentile (SGP) Scores
*Credit to Fictional Student Score Report: http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/growth/InterpretiveGuide.pdf
Student Growth Percentile (SGP) scores will tell you about your child's progress in comparison to the progress of other students in the state.
SGP scores are percentile scores. A percentile score represents the percent of students in the group that the student did better than on the test.
SGP scores range from 1 to 99.
Example: Looking at Abby Adams's 2009 ELA SGP, she progressed as much as or more than 24 percent of her peers who had received similar MCAS scores in ELA in previous years.
Looking at Abby Adams's 2009 Math SGP, she progressed as much as or more than 76 percent of her peers who had received similar MCAS scores in math in previous years.
SGP scores are percentile scores. A percentile score represents the percent of students in the group that the student did better than on the test.
SGP scores range from 1 to 99.
Example: Looking at Abby Adams's 2009 ELA SGP, she progressed as much as or more than 24 percent of her peers who had received similar MCAS scores in ELA in previous years.
Looking at Abby Adams's 2009 Math SGP, she progressed as much as or more than 76 percent of her peers who had received similar MCAS scores in math in previous years.