MCAS Achievement Results: Massachusetts School and District Test Scores Since 2017

Massachusetts statewide assessment results from 2017 onward, published by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The dataset includes achievement levels, participation rates, average scaled scores, and student growth percentiles for state, district, and school levels across subjects like math, English, science, and civics. It was last updated on March 3, 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze achievement gaps by comparing ACH_PERCENTILE and AVG_SCALED_SCORE across different STU_GRP categories.
• Model school-level performance trends over time using SY, SUBJECT_CODE, and AVG_SCALED_SCORE.
• Assess student growth and cohort progress by analyzing AVG_SGP and AVG_SGP_INCL across TEST_GRADE levels.
• Calculate participation and proficiency rates using STU_PART_PCT, E_PCT, M_PCT, and M_PLUS_E_PCT for accountability reporting.

Strengths

• Includes data from 2017 onward, providing a multi-year time series for longitudinal analysis.
• Contains results at three granular levels: state, district (DIST_NAME), and school (ORG_NAME).
• Offers multiple performance metrics per record, including scores, percentiles, participation, and growth (AVG_SCALED_SCORE, ACH_PERCENTILE, STU_PART_PCT, AVG_SGP).

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Legacy MCAS, PARCC, and other assessment results are explicitly excluded from this dataset.
• Student growth percentile (AVG_SGP) calculation methodology changed between 2017 (median), 2018 onward (mean), and 2021 (baseline method).

Provenance

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), via educationtocareer.data.mass.gov.

Collection Method

Statewide standardized assessment administration.

Time Range

2017 onward.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-03 23:05:36; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Massachusetts, USA.