Massachusetts Postpones MCAS Long CompositionTest

Students in 4th, 7th, and 10th grades in every public school across the state have had March 19th circled on their calendar for months.  It was supposed to be the day when they showcased their writing skills with the writing composition portion of the mandatory, statewide MCAS test.  Because of impending weather problems, that portion of the test is now being rescheduled until next Monday, March 25th.

Department of Education officials make sure that every school in the state offers the "long composition" on the same day to avoid compromising the security and integrity of the test.  Each student in a particular grade level all across the state will be answering  the same question.

“We realize that this change may be disruptive for some schools, but for security reasons it is critical that all schools administer the ELA Composition on the same day. Even schools that are unaffected by the storm must wait to administer the test."

The postponement will be applied to the long comp portion of the test only. Some schools may choose to administer the reading portion of the test.