New MCAS Family Portal now live

From the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: DESE has released 2026 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and school accountability system results today, highlighting areas of progress, a continuing need for broader adoption of evidence-based early literacy instruction and the importance of having a statewide graduation framework.

“The Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Legislature both recognized the urgent need to focus on early literacy, with the Governor’s Literacy Launch initiative and the recent passage of legislation that requires districts to use evidence-based early literacy curricula. With this strong focus and support on early literacy, I am confident that we will see improved outcomes in our English language arts performance,” said Education Secretary Steve Zrike.

Grade 8 math showed the strongest improvement this year, with 42 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2025.

Fourteen districts have now returned to or exceeded their pre-pandemic performance in both English language arts and math for students in grades 3-8, with additional districts reaching pre-pandemic performance in one of the two subjects.

For the first time this year, families were able to access their child’s preliminary MCAS results online through DESE’s new MCAS Family Portal before the statewide release, giving parents and caregivers information earlier in the school year to support conversations with teachers.

“I’m proud that we were able to give parents access to their child’s preliminary scores online for the first time this year, and with today’s public release, families will be able to learn more about how their school and district performed as a whole,” said Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez. “We’re committed to working in partnership with schools and districts to implement evidence-based literacy practices and the new graduation framework.”

2026 MCAS Results

Statewide results show areas of improvement alongside continued challenges as Massachusetts works to accelerate student achievement following the pandemic.

In math, 41 percent of students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations, roughly consistent with 2025. Grade 8 saw notable progress, increasing 4 percentage points to 42 percent meeting or exceeding expectations. Grade 10 math was roughly consistent with last year.

In English language arts, 40 percent of students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations. Results declined by 2 percentage points from 2025. Grade 10 ELA also declined from last year.

In science, grade 8 improved by 2 percentage points, with 39 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations. Results declined in grade 5 and at the high school level.

Grade 8 students took the civics assessment for the second year, with 40 percent meeting or exceeding expectations, roughly consistent with last year.

Results also continue to show the importance of regular school attendance. Students who were chronically absent performed substantially below students who were not chronically absent.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration has made reducing chronic absenteeism a statewide priority. DESE has provided targeted funding and technical assistance to districts, including $10,000 grants to 175 districts to strengthen local attendance efforts, launched the statewide Your Presence Is Powerful campaign, and created the Strengthening Student Engagement and Attendance initiative to help high schools improve attendance and student engagement. The Administration has also invested in supports that help address barriers to attendance, including universal school meals and student mental health services. Chronic absenteeism declined to 17.1 percent statewide in 2025-26, down from 22.2 percent in 2022-23.

Preparing Every Student for Life After High School

At the high school level, this year’s results reinforce the importance of maintaining strong statewide academic expectations while preparing students for success after graduation.

Following the 2024 ballot measure that removed a qualifying MCAS score as a graduation requirement, the Healey-Driscoll Administration created the K–12 Statewide Graduation Council to develop a comprehensive statewide framework for earning a high school diploma.

The Administration released final recommendations this spring designed to ensure every student graduates prepared for college, careers and civic life. The proposed framework includes rigorous coursework, end-of-course assessments, postsecondary planning, career and work-based learning opportunities and other measures of student readiness.

The recommendations include expanded access to coursework aligned with MassCore, which provides students with a rigorous course of study designed to keep college, career and other postsecondary options open.

2026 Accountability Results

DESE also released 2026 school and district accountability results today, with the large majority of schools receiving a designation of not requiring state assistance or intervention. The state maintains its accountability system to meet the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, as well as certain requirements in Massachusetts state law.  

Eighty percent of schools receiving an accountability designation of not requiring assistance or intervention, and 53 percent met, exceeded or made substantial progress toward their accountability targets.

The accountability system looks at multiple measures of school performance, including student achievement and growth, graduation rates, English language proficiency and chronic absenteeism. The accountability system helps DESE identify schools that are demonstrating success and schools that would benefit from additional support.  

This year, DESE is again identifying a number of Schools of Recognition for their strong improvement or overall achievement. These schools demonstrate progress toward annual accountability targets, with an emphasis on improved achievement in English Language Arts ELA and math. This year’s group includes 56 schools across the state, from Sandwich Middle High School on Cape Cod to Kittredge Elementary School in Berkshire County.

Editor’s note: Lincoln-Thomson Elementary School in Lynn made the list this year.

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Detailed MCAS Results – Lynn

Detailed MCAS Results – STATE

English language arts: English language arts results declined for grades 3-8 combined and declined in grade 10 compared to 2025. 

Grade	2026 %M/E	Change M/E ‘25-26	Change M/E ’19-26
3-8	40%	-2 percentage pts.	-12 percentage pts.
10	45%	-6 percentage pts.	-16 percentage pts.

Science: Science results were mixed, with an increase in grade 8 and declines in grade 5 and high school.  

Grade	2026  %M/E	Change M/E ‘25-26	Change M/E ’19-26
5	43%	-3 percentage pts.	-6 percentage pts.
8	39%	+2 percentage pts.	-7 percentage pts.
High School	41%	-5 percentage pts.	N/A (the science tests were different in 2019)

Math: Compared to 2025, the percentage of students scoring Meeting or Exceeding Expectations in math was unchanged in grades 3-8. The percentage of students who scored Meeting or Exceeding Expectations in grade 10 also remained unchanged. 

Grade	2026  %M/E	Change M/E ‘25-26	Change M/E ’19-26
3-8	41%	none	-8 percentage pts.
10	44%	-1 percentage pt.	-15 percentage pts.

Civics: Compared to 2025, the percentage of grade 8 students scoring Meeting or Exceeding Expectations on the civics assessment remained flat.

Grade	2026  %M/E	Change M/E ‘25-26	Change M/E ’19-26
8	40%	+1 percentage pt.	N/A (the civics test was new in 2025)