Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AAS) Webinar (Spring 2022)- This webinar provides an overview of Maine's AAS, how these are implemented in the design of alternate assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, alignment to Maine's grade level content standards, and the role of AAS in IEP goals and objectives.

Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AAS) PDF

 Core Content Connectors  The CCCs are derived from the Common Core State Standards and aligned to the Maine Learning Results and are Maine's alternate academic achievement standards (AAAS) in ELA/literacy and mathematics. These AAAS are more accessible steps, reduced in breadth and complexity, for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Maine's alternate assessments, the MSAA, are designed based on these standards.

• Core Content Connectors in ELA/Literacy
• Core Content Connectors in Math

Extended Performance Expectations

The EPEs are derived from the Performance Expectations contained in the Next Generation Science Standards, and are Maine's alternate academic achievement standards (AAAS) in science. These AAAS are more accessible steps, reduced in breadth and complexity, for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Maine's alternate assessment, the MSAA Science, is designed based on these standards.

• Extended Performance Expectations in the Elementary Grades
• Extended Performance Expectations in the Middle School
• Extended Performance Expectations in the High School

Resources for Determining Eligibility

These resources are designed to support IEP teams in making data-driven decisions about eligibility and participation in the alternate assessments.

• Participation Decision Flowchart
• Alternate Assessment Participation Checklist
• Maine Participation Guidance

Parent Resources

• MSAA Parent Flyer

*The manual and guides below are from the Spring 2024 administration. Updated manuals and guides for Spring 2025 will be posted here by mid-December 2024.

• Spring 2024 Test Administration Manual - This manual outlines the process for administration of the MSAA and MSAA Science.
• 2024 Test Coordinator User Guide – This guide contains practical information and visual supports to help test administrators navigate the MSAA and MSAA System.
• 2024 Test Administrator User Guide – This guide contains practical information and visual supports to help test coordinators navigate the MSAA and MSAA System.

The MSAA and MSAA Science platform requires a Test Security Agreement upon initial login each year by TAs and TCs, before assessment trainings and student tests can be accessed.  Please read the agreement carefully.  

No additional Test Security Agreement is required for alternate assessments administration beyond that which is provided in the MSAA platform.

Technical assistance for Local Educational Agencies (in Maine, SAUs) around the state-required assessments is a federal requirement for all State Education Agencies (SEA). The SEA is required in statute to establish a system of statewide content assessments as well to provide technical assistance to the local districts in the administration of these assessments to ensure that student results are valid and reliable. In Maine, one of the ways the Assessment Team provides technical assistance is in the form of assessment observations. 

Maine SAUs are encouraged to reach out to the Assessment Team if they have specific technical needs around state assessments. 

• Assessment Team Technical Assistance/Professional Learning Request Form

The reporting window for the Spring 2024 MSAA data is open from July 15 - September 6, 2024

Test Coordinators at the SAU and school levels have the functionality to download reports directly from the MSAA Platform.

Score Report Interpretation Guide: A detailed guide to various MSAA score reports at the district, school and student levels, including writing rubrics and performance level descriptors. MSAA Score Report Interpretive Guide 2024

MSAA Parent Guides: A resource for parents and families of students eligible for the MSAA, to support their knowledge and understanding of what is being measured and how the data can be used to improve student outcomes.

• MSAA Parent Guide Grade 3
• MSAA Parent Guide Grade 4
• MSAA Parent Guide Grade 5
• MSAA Parent Guide Grade 6
• MSAA Parent Guide Grade 7
• MSAA Parent Guide Grade 8
• MSAA High School Parent Guide

Technical Reports

The Multi-State Alternate Assessment (the MSAA) is a comprehensive, two-stage adaptive, summative assessment system designed to promote increasingly higher academic outcomes for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities to prepare them for a broader array of post-secondary outcomes. The MSAA is designed to measure grade-level academic content that is aligned with and derived from the content standards of the MSAA Partner States.

• 2023 MSAA Technical Report
• 2023 MSAA Science Standard Setting