This article reports on a 3-year ethnographic study in a Boston Public school of the performance of Haitian students on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and its lasting and likely impact upon them. MCAS is a mandated exam required for students to graduate from high school. Although there are certain provisions for students with limited English proficiency (LEP) to participate under the mandate, LEP students face the test with an enormous disadvantage compared with other students. The issue of second language acquisition appears to have been completely dismissed in the mandated policy. In light of the challenges faced by students with LEP, the article focuses on the core issues at hand in the Massachusetts standardized exam. It analyzes the complexities of language use and acquisition with respect to students with LEP, the pitfalls of the mandated exam, and the effects and impacts created by MCAS on students and their communities. It suggests that an educational system should take into consideration the complexity of acquiring a second language in a particular social context and develop new testing policies and requirements for students whose first language is not English.