Mass DOE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Darrell S. Pressley, 781-338-3126
Monday, October 25, 1999

MCAS Passes
Boston -- Massachusetts Commissioner of Education David P. Driscoll
released a study today on the technical merits of the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) which proves that the exam for
fourth-, eighth-, and tenth- graders is valid and reliable.

Commissioner Driscoll released a 151-page technical report, based on 1998
MCAS data, that synthesizes three separate studies, one by Advanced Systems
in Measurement and Evaluation, one by the National Center for the
Improvement of Educational Assessment, and one by the Human Resources
Research Organization of Kentucky.

Commissioner Driscoll said, "This is an important report. It addresses the
extent to which the MCAS tests are valid and reliable, two components that
are essential to the integrity of any test, and particularly of the MCAS,
due to the eventual high-stakes uses of its results."

"I will match the technical results of this test up against any test in
the country. The MCAS exam meets the high standards that anyone would set."

The Department of Education prepared the report, with the assistance of
its testing company, Advanced Systems in Measurement & Evaluation, on the
reliability and validity of the MCAS tests. The National Technical Advisory
Committee, comprised of national testing experts, reviewed, scrutinized,
and endorsed the report.

The MCAS Technical Summary provides evidence of the reliability and the
validity of the tests, based on data in the last year using 1998 MCAS test.
This report is a general overview of the technical quality of the MCAS for
educators, parents, and the general public.

The MCAS Technical Report includes a description of the process used to
develop, administer, and score the tests and analyze the test results. The
report was reviewed by members of the MCAS National Technical Advisory
Committee, which is charged with ensuring the technical integrity of the
MCAS tests.

During the study, research experts reviewed the issue of validity, and
whether the MCAS results are consistent with other measurements of student
performance against other standardized tests, such as the Stanford
Achievement Test and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.

The reliability issue refers to whether there is assurance that if a
student were to take the MCAS test again, on a different day, using a
slightly different version of the tests, he or she would get about the same
results as he or she did the first time the test was taken.

The report shows that students who performed at the Proficient or Advanced
levels on MCAS tended to score at higher levels on other nationally
recognized standardized tests. Students who scored in the Needs Improvement
category tended to perform at the same or higher level on national
assessments.

For more information or to review the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment
System 1998 Technical Report and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment
System Technical Summary reports, visit the Department of Education's
website at www.doe.mass.edu/mcas