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An update from Academic Standards, Instruction and Assessment
Oct. 8, 2025
Quick Links
Various MCA and Alt MCA Student Readiness Tools (SRTs) are now available for the 2025-26 school year on the Student Readiness Tools (SRTs) page of the Minnesota Assessment Hub (Minnesota Assessment Hub > Resources & Training > Student Readiness Tools (SRTs)). Note: You may need to refresh the page a few times and/or clear your browser’s cache to see the updated resources on the Hub.
The SRTs are designed to help students become familiar with the online or paper MCA or Alt MCA they will be taking. The SRTs are reviewed and updated regularly based on feedback from educators and students and changes to the assessments and available tools and supports. No login information is needed for the online SRTs. Students and educators select their grade level to review videos and practice activities to learn how to navigate within the test, use the tools, and answer question types. Paper SRTs are posted to the Minnesota Assessment Hub.
The following updates to the SRTs are now available. Additional updates for the online SRTs will be released in Dec. and availability will be communicated in an Assessment Update.
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English Glossary SRT for online Reading MCA: The English glossary is now a feature on the Reading MCA that allows students to see and hear the definitions of certain words on test items (not reading passages). This support is available to all students. The English glossary tutorials provide information on the purpose and functionality of this feature.
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Ruler SRTs: For students taking the grade 4 Mathematics MCA, the ruler SRT tutorial is now available in the grade 4 SRTs. A 1/16th inch ruler is also available in the TestNav toolbar.
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Protractor SRT: For students taking the grade 4 Mathematics MCA, a protractor SRT tutorial is now available in the grade 4 SRTs. A protractor is also available in the TestNav toolbar.
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Read&Write TestNav Extension for online Science MCA: With the retirement of the Co:Writer Universal extension, Read&Write is now the only extension available for word prediction and/or speech-to-text. The Read&Write TestNav Extension tutorial provides educators and students with information on the purpose, and functionality of Read&Write. As determined by the district, this support can be indicated for students based on whether they use word prediction or speech-to-text and word prediction writing supports in their classroom instruction.
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Revised Reading MCA paper SRT materials: The Reading MCA paper SRTs now include a passages book, which will be provided automatically with the Reading MCA paper test book to make it easier for students to access passage information alongside the items included in the test book. Reading paper SRTs are available for two grade clusters: Grades 3-5 and 6-10.
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Regular Print SRTs: All regular print (12-point) versions of the paper MCA SRTs are now available. Note: Additional paper materials such as large print (18- and 24- point (for math only)) and scripts for all subjects will become available throughout the fall. Braille materials will be available to order in the winter.
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Reading Alternate MCA SRTs: Reading Alternate MCA SRTs are now available for students taking online, paper, or hybrid (any combination of online and paper) administrations in addition to the Science Alternate MCA SRTs.
Educator guides for the online and paper MCA and Alt MCA SRTs are available. Supplemental information for the online MCA SRT tutorials and the online Alt MCA SRT tutorials is also available, which provides detailed information about all functionalities in TestNav.
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October Q&A Session: DAC Roles and Yearly Overview
MDE will host the first monthly virtual Q&A session for DACs on Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 2 to 3 p.m. New and experienced DACs are welcome to attend. Register for the October Q&A Session. Please note: All participants must register for the event using an email address associated with their school, district, or educational agency. MDE will manually approve all registrations prior to the event. Once registrations are approved, participants will receive a confirmation email with the link to the event.
The prerequisites for this Q&A session are the following chapters of the Procedures Manual:
- Chapter 2: Overview of Statewide Assessments
- Chapter 3: Roles and Responsibilities for Testing
- Chapter 5: Responsible and Ethical Practices to Maintain Test Security and Test Score Integrity
MDE collects questions from DACs prior to the event to help prepare and find relevant resources to share. After reading the chapters, submit questions for the October DAC Q&A Session. Q&A Sessions will not be recorded nor will CEUs be provided as these are an additional support rather than a training event.
This Q&A session will go over information covered during the New DAC Orientation. The virtual New DAC Orientation will be held on Thursday, Oct. 9 and Friday, Oct. 10 from 9 to 11 a.m. each morning; the in-person training will be held in Minneapolis on Monday, Oct. 13 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more details and registration links, please see the Oct. 1 Assessment Update.
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Academic Standards, Instruction and Assessment
Minnesota Department of Education
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