ATTENTION: The online platform for the Spring 2025 Grade 10 ELA MCAS has a new look. Click on this link and choose the ELA Grade 10 Computer-Based Practice Test.
This links below brings you to a page that will allow you to access the print versions of the test item releases for ELA and grade 10 to explore the online versions of the 2019-2024 tests.
Here are those same tests on paper:
2024 Grade 10 MCAS ELA item release.pdf (paper format)
2023 Grade 10 MCAS ELA item release.pdf (paper format)
2022 Grade 10 MCAS ELA item release pdf (paper format)
2021 Grade 10 MCAS ELA item release pdf (paper format)
2019 Grade 10 MCAS ELA item release pdf (paper format)
Sample Argument Prompt
Based on “When Mindfulness Meets the Classroom” and “Instead of Detention, write an editorial for your local newspaper in which you argue why it is important for teachers in your school to be trained in mindfulness. Be sure to use information from both articles to develop your editorial.
STUDENT WORK SAMPLES:
Sample Expository Prompt
Based on Dracula, Rebecca, and Station Eleven, write an essay that explains how the authors’ use of sensory details helps create mood. Be sure to use details from all three passages to develop your essay.
STUDENT WORK SAMPLES from 2019 MCAS (please click on the "redirect" link for all of the examples below):
Sample Narrative Prompt
Based on “Snapping an Iconic Photo” and “The Story of the Migrant Mother,” write a reflection on Florence Thompson from the perspective of one of her adult children, including the effect Thompson had on her children’s lives. Be sure to use what you know about the characters, settings, and events from both passages to develop your reflection.
STUDENT WORK SAMPLES:
Newton North High School and WBUR news articles on why the 2019 narrative prompt had to be scrapped. Many students were uncomfortable or traumatized by the task. Many refused to answer it and many felt horrible for what they had to do to answer it effectively.