The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments Series III (MCA- III's) are reading, mathematics, writing and science tests that help schools and districts measure student progress toward the state’s academic standards. MCA’s are administered in:

• Grade 3 Reading & Math
• Grade 4 Reading & Math
• Grade 5 Reading, Math, & Science
• Grade 6 Reading & Math
• Grade 7 Reading & Math
• Grade 8 Reading, Math, & Science
• Grade 10 Reading & Science
• Grade 11 Math

Graduation-Required Assessment for Diploma (GRAD) measures the reading, writing, and mathematics proficiency of high school students. Students must reach a specified level on each of these assessments or take one of the following tests: ACT, WorkKeys, Compass or Armed Forces Test, in order to receive a high school diploma. The reading test is administered in 10th grade and the math test in 11th grade. Students who need to re-take any of these tests can do so three times each year and four times in 12th grade.

ACCESS for ELLs--Minnesota has joined the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Consortium. As a member of the WIDA consortium, Minnesota districts will be administering the ACCESS for ELLs� assessment to all Limited English Proficient (LEP) identified students in grades K–12.

ACCESS for ELLs� stands for Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners. This large-scale test addresses the academic English language proficiency (ELP) standards at the core of the WIDA Consortium's approach to instructing and evaluating the progress of English language learners.