Massachusetts High School Chemistry: complete guide to the STE framework chemistry standards (HS-PS1), why the standalone Chemistry MCAS is now a legacy test, and the post-2024 graduation rules

Massachusetts high school chemistry is built on the Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering (STE) Curriculum Framework, the state standards adopted in 2016 and overseen by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The chemistry standards live under HS-PS1, Matter and Its Interactions, with two Massachusetts additions. This page is the index: it explains the framework chemistry standards, the honest status of the standalone Chemistry MCAS, the achievement levels, the post-2024 graduation rules, and how to study each part of the course. The content is organized into six modules.

Is there a Chemistry MCAS? The honest answer

This is the most important thing to get right, because it has changed.

The high school STE MCAS once offered four test options: Biology, Introductory Physics, Chemistry, and Technology/Engineering. A student picked one to meet the single science test requirement. But when DESE moved high school STE to the new "next-generation" tests, it built next-generation versions only for Biology and Introductory Physics. Chemistry and Technology/Engineering stayed on the legacy scale during the transition and were then discontinued. Their final administration was spring 2023.

So today:

• There is no current standalone Chemistry MCAS. The only high school STE MCAS tests offered are Biology and Introductory Physics. To meet the science MCAS requirement, most students take Biology.
• High school chemistry is still a full course, taught from the Massachusetts STE framework chemistry standards. It is assessed in the classroom through your school's tests, labs, and coursework, not by a dedicated statewide chemistry exam.
• The chemistry standards still matter. They define what a Massachusetts chemistry course must teach, they overlap with the matter content on the Introductory Physics MCAS, and they are the foundation for AP Chemistry and college science.

This library therefore teaches Massachusetts high school chemistry as the STE framework defines it, grounding every page in the HS-PS1 chemistry standards, while being clear that a passing Chemistry MCAS score is not something current students sit for.

The chemistry standards (HS-PS1 and the Massachusetts additions)

The high school Chemistry discipline of the STE framework uses the following performance expectations. The codes beginning HS-PS1 are the chemistry core; the (MA) codes are Massachusetts additions.

• HS-PS1-1. Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level.
• HS-PS1-2. Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, periodic trends, and the patterns of chemical properties.
• HS-PS1-3. Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of the electrical forces between particles (this is where intermolecular forces and the properties they cause are tested).
• HS-PS1-4. Develop a model to show that the energy released or absorbed by a reaction depends on the change in total bond energy.
• HS-PS1-5. Explain the effect of changing the temperature or concentration of reacting particles on the rate of a reaction.
• HS-PS1-6. Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that increases the amount of products at equilibrium (Le Chatelier's principle).
• HS-PS1-7. Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction (the basis of stoichiometry).
• HS-PS2-6(MA). Communicate why the molecular-level structure of designed materials, such as synthetic polymers, metals, and ceramics, matters to their function.
• HS-PS3-4(MA). Provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy in a closed system spreads energy more uniformly (the second law), the framework's home for thermochemistry and heat.

A full Massachusetts chemistry course also teaches the supporting quantitative content the standards rely on: the mole and molar mass, the gas laws and kinetic molecular theory, solutions and molarity, acids, bases and pH, and thermochemistry. The nuclear standard HS-PS1-8(MA) (fission, fusion, and radioactive decay) is placed under Introductory Physics in the framework, but it is so closely tied to atomic structure that chemistry courses routinely teach it, and this library covers it in Module 1.

What Question 2 changed about graduation

In November 2024, Massachusetts voters approved ballot Question 2. It removed the long-standing rule that a student had to pass the MCAS to earn the statewide competency determination (CD) required to graduate.

What this means in practice:

• Passing the MCAS is no longer the state graduation gate. Effective in early December 2024, students earn the competency determination by satisfactorily completing district-certified coursework aligned to the standards, not by passing a test.
• The MCAS is still administered, and participation is still required. DESE has been explicit that participation is required by state and federal law. The Biology and Introductory Physics STE tests continue to run, and their data is still used for accountability.
• Districts still set their own local graduation requirements. A district can require credits and courses, including a chemistry course, beyond the state CD, but a local requirement cannot replace the CD.

For chemistry specifically, this reinforces a point that was already true after spring 2023: there is no chemistry test to pass for graduation. Where chemistry is required, it is required as coursework. Always check the current DESE guidance and your district's policy, because this area changed recently.

The achievement levels (where they apply)

Because chemistry no longer has its own MCAS, achievement levels apply to it only historically.

The legacy high school STE tests, including the old Chemistry test, reported four legacy levels: Advanced, Proficient, Needs Improvement, and Warning/Failing. The next-generation Biology and Introductory Physics tests report four next-generation levels instead:

1. Exceeding Expectations
2. Meeting Expectations
3. Partially Meeting Expectations
4. Not Meeting Expectations

Your current chemistry achievement is measured by your school's coursework, labs, and tests, which your district aligns to the framework chemistry standards.

The science and engineering practices

The Massachusetts STE framework, like the NGSS it is based on, expects you to do science, not just recall it. The eight science and engineering practices are:

1. Asking questions and defining problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

In chemistry these show up as balancing and interpreting equations, running mole and stoichiometry calculations, reading heating curves and potential-energy diagrams, designing and evaluating investigations, and arguing a claim from data.

How to study Massachusetts high school chemistry

1. Learn the content, then learn to use it. Master each standard, but practice applying it: most good chemistry questions give you data, a diagram, or an equation and ask you to do something with it.
2. Drill the calculations. Get fluent with the mole, stoichiometry, the gas laws, molarity, and pH. These are the quantitative spine of the course.
3. Tie structure to properties. The framework keeps returning to the idea that electron arrangement and bonding explain the properties of substances. Make that connection automatic.
4. Reason about energy and rate. Be able to classify a reaction as endothermic or exothermic from a potential-energy diagram, explain a rate change with collision theory, and predict an equilibrium shift with Le Chatelier's principle.
5. Connect topics across modules. The framework rewards seeing matter and energy, structure and function, and cause and effect run through every topic.

The modules, topic by topic

Each topic has a standard-level answer page with worked questions and cross-links, plus a deep-dive guide and a quiz. Browse the set at /ma-mcas/chemistry/syllabus.

Module 1: Atomic structure and the periodic table

scientific investigation and measurement, atomic structure and isotopes, electron arrangement and valence electrons, the periodic table and periodic trends, average atomic mass and the mole concept, nuclear chemistry and radioactivity.

Module 2: Bonding and molecular structure

ionic and covalent bonding, metallic bonding and material properties, chemical names and formulas, molecular geometry and polarity, intermolecular forces and physical properties.

Module 3: Chemical reactions and stoichiometry

balancing equations and conservation of mass, types of chemical reactions, molar mass and percent composition, stoichiometric calculations, limiting reactants and percent yield, oxidation-reduction reactions.

Module 4: States of matter and gas laws

states of matter and kinetic molecular theory, phase changes and heating curves, the gas laws, the ideal gas law and molar volume, gas stoichiometry and Dalton's law.

Module 5: Solutions, acids and bases

solutions, solubility and concentration, molarity and solution stoichiometry, acids, bases and the pH scale, neutralisation and titration, the properties of acids and bases.

Module 6: Thermochemistry and kinetics

energy changes in chemical reactions, bond energy and reaction energy, reaction rates and collision theory, potential energy diagrams and activation energy, chemical equilibrium and Le Chatelier's principle.

For the official guidance

DESE publishes the STE test design and development page, the released item documents for the current Biology and Introductory Physics tests, and the Massachusetts STE Curriculum Framework, which contains the high school chemistry standards. For the graduation rules after Question 2, see the DESE graduation requirements guidance. Always study from the current DESE materials, because both the assessment design and the graduation rules are specific to Massachusetts and have changed recently.