In 1997, the Minnesota State Legislature enacted into law M.S. 121.113, Statewide Testing and Reporting System, establishing annual statewide testing of all students in grades three, five, seven, eight, and high school. The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) in reading and mathematics fulfill the requirements for statewide testing at grade three. The MCAs in reading, mathematics and writing fulfill the testing requirement in grade five. The Basic Skills Tests (BSTs) in reading and mathematics, first given in grade eight, fulfill the requirement for high school graduation. The grade ten writing test serves both as a BST and an MCA. The grade ten MCA in Reading test and the grade eleven MCA mathematics test were implemented in 2002. The grade seven MCAs in reading and mathematics were field tested in 2003 and implemented in 2004.

The purpose of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments – Series 2 (MCA-II) is to measure Minnesota students’ achievement with regard to the Minnesota Academic Standards. The MCA- II Reading tests are given in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10; MCA – II Mathematics tests are given in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11.

Merit’s Language Arts and math software programs correlate to the Minnesota Academic Standards and can help students prepare for the MCA and MCA - II tests. The content and format of Merit’s programs can help students develop and strengthen their test-taking skills as well as their reading, writing and math skills.

Merit reading software has been proven -- through rigorous, scientifically based research -- to increase both student reading comprehension and standardized test scores. Merit research study findings reveal that education software is an effective tool to improve test scores and academic performance.

Published: January 2005