Overview
- The 2026 MCAS results released Tuesday show 40% of students in grades 3–8 met or exceeded expectations in English language arts, down two percentage points from 2025 and 12 points from 2019, and 45% of 10th graders met or exceeded expectations, a six-point drop from last year and 16 points below 2019 levels.
- Math performance was largely unchanged year over year, with 41% of grades 3–8 and 44% of 10th graders meeting or exceeding expectations, though some grade-by-grade gains appeared in sixth and eighth grade.
- Students from high-need groups trail far behind: in grades 3–8 ELA, low-income students met expectations at about 22%, students with disabilities at 11%, and English learners at 4%, driving much of the statewide underperformance.
- Chronic absenteeism improved to 17.1% for the 2025–2026 school year but remains above pre-pandemic levels and is strongly linked to lower MCAS scores, with chronically absent students scoring far below their regularly attending peers.
- State leaders point to lower student motivation and weaker incoming high-school preparation as factors and have already moved to respond with roughly $24.7 million in literacy and tutoring grants, June 2026 K–3 reading requirements, and plans for a multi-year strategic 'north star' and a new graduation framework while keeping MCAS as the primary accountability measure.