Ed board backs MCAS 2.0 plan for new standardized tests

MALDEN – Bay State education policymakers voted Tuesday to create an MCAS 2.0 standardized testing program that combines elements of the multi-state PARCC exam and the current Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System by 2017. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education backed Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester's recommendation to come up with a "next-generation" assessment program that builds off both MCAS, which has been given to Massachusetts students for about 20 years, and the

MALDEN – Bay State education policymakers voted Tuesday to create an MCAS 2.0 standardized testing program that combines elements of the multi-state PARCC exam and the current Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System by 2017. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education backed Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester's recommendation to come up with a "next-generation" assessment program that builds off both MCAS, which has been given to Massachusetts students for about 20 years, and the…