ANNISTON — Members of the Alabama State Board of Education on Wednesday discussed the possibility of changing the test score standards that determine whether students can advance to fourth grade.
The 2019 Alabama Literacy Act, which went into full effect this year, aims to bring students up to grade level in reading by the end of Grade 3. Part of the law requires that students who don't meet the benchmark by the end of Grade 3, and who don't attend summer reading camps or address the benchmark in other ways, repeat the grade for an additional year.
About 6.5% of third-year students took the test this spring. After summer camp, students were performing below grade level.
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Board members discussed changing something called the conditional standard error of measurement (CSEM), which is calculated into test scores to give an accurate picture of how students are performing. CSEM is the range within which a student's score is expected to fall. If the student takes the same test multiple times
For the 2024 reading test, the CSEM was -2.00. The closer the coefficient is to zero, the more students are reading below grade level.
According to a chart provided to board members, a CSEM of -2.00 would mean that there are 91.02% of students at or above grade level, and a CSEM of -.025 would mean that there are 77.18% of students at or above grade level.
Tracy West, a Republican who represents the 2nd District on the committee, said there is a perception that the reading test is too easy.
“Would lowering it from -1.5 to -1.25 be a recognition that we're trying a little bit harder to get there in one year,” she told Juan DeBrotto, a senior associate at the assessment center and a member of the Alabama Department of Education's technical advisory committee.
At a work session earlier this year, McKee said internally they use the word “sufficiency,” but the law refers to grade level. The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Terry Collins of Decatur, told the Reflector at the time that he felt sufficiency was below grade level.
State Superintendent Eric McKee said the current -2.00 CSEM provides a 95% level of confidence that a student is “truly below grade level.” Raising the CSEM to -1.00 would give a 68% level of confidence, meaning 32% are “not confident they're a good fit,” he said.
“Going from 95% confidence to 68% confidence is a big jump,” he said.
DeBrotto said any changes to the cut score would depend on the risk the board was willing to take.
“I think the question that has to be considered is what's the greater risk of promoting students who should be retained versus retaining students who should be promoted,” he said. “And I think that leads to some kind of legal question of where you want to stabilize things.”
Wayne Reynolds, a Republican who represents District 8 on the board, said he's more concerned about “false positives,” where students are promoted when they aren't ready.
He said he doesn't want to pass someone who doesn't have the necessary skills, “whether it's a lawyer, a doctor or a driver's license.”
McKee said he believes such changes are best made in stages and that he is responsible for informing district and other school leaders in the coming months.
“I'm worried they're not going to let districts know until February and then they're going to do the testing in March,” he said.
The State Board of Education held a two-day educational trip to Anniston. This is the second time this year.
The committee also discussed further restrictions on cellphones in schools, a topic that was discussed at the previous meeting. McKee said a resolution encouraging school districts to impose stricter policies is working.
Another topic on the agenda was school safety, with Governor McKee saying during Wednesday's budget hearing that funding is needed to implement a series of school safety measures mandated in a bill passed last session.