This general achievement trends profile includes information that the Center on Education Policy (CEP) and the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) obtained from states from fall 2008 through April 2009. Included herein are: (1) Bullet points summarizing key findings about achievement trends in that state at three performance levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced; (2) Background information about limitations of the state's test data and characteristics of the state's testing system, including major changes in its testing system; (3) Figures and tables with the percentages of students scoring at the proficient level and above for all years with comparable data since 1999 and for all grades tested under the No Child Left Behind Act; and (4) Figures and tables with percentages of students performing at three achievement levels--basic, proficient, and advanced--for all years with comparable data and for grades 4, 8, and 10 (or adjacent grades, in the case of states that lack comparable trend data for these default grades. In general, Massachusetts students made gains at all three achievement levels. The exceptions were in reading, where there were slight decreases at the basic and proficient levels in the elementary grade analyzed. At the advanced level, there were moderate-to-large gains across the board in math, especially at the high school level. Specific results include: (1) Between 2002 and 2008, the percentage of students performing at the basic level and above in reading decreased slightly at the elementary grade analyzed but increased at a moderate-to-large pace at the high school level (in middle school reading, the percentage basic stayed the same over the three years with comparable data, 2006 through 2008); in math, the percentage of students at basic and above increased at a moderate-to-large rate at all three grade levels analyzed; (2) Between 2002 and 2008, the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level and above in reading went down slightly at the elementary school grade analyzed but rose at a moderate-to-large rate at the high school grade analyzed; in middle school reading, comparable data were available for only three years, 2006 through 2008; during this period, the percentage proficient increased slightly; in math, the percentage proficient grew at a moderate-to-large rate at all three grade levels analyzed between 2002 and 2008; and (3) The percentage of students reaching the advanced level in reading increased slightly at the elementary and high school grades analyzed between 2002 and 2008; in middle school reading, there was no change in the percentage advanced between 2006 and 2008; in math, the percentage of advanced students rose at a moderate-to-large rate at all three grade levels analyzed; at the high school level, a notable 42% of students had reached the advanced level in 2008, up from 20% in 2002. (Contains 4 figures and 4 tables.) [For "State Test Score Trends through 2007-08, Part I: Is the Emphasis on 'Proficiency' Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students?," see ED506121. For "State Test Score Trends through 2007-08. Part II: Is There a Plateau Effect in Test Scores?," see ED506122.]