State Setting Standards For New Biology, Geometry and Science Assessments

fldoe.org

Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart

Education leaders are taking public input this week on plans to set new achievement level standards for Florida students.

The state is transitioning from the FCAT to the FCAT 2.0 and Florida End-of-Course (EOC) assessments.

These tests will measure student achievement of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS).

Minimum standards must be in place before the new tests can be given to students.

So, the state is setting standards in Biology I and Geometry EOC assessments, and the FCAT 2.0 Science assessment in grades 5 and 8.

The Florida Department of Education has defined the basic steps of setting standards.

1. Develop a policy definition describing the meaning of each Achievement Level.
2. Develop Achievement Level descriptions.
3. Convene a standard-setting panel composed of educators (Educator Panel) to propose cut scores for the Achievement Levels.
4. Convene a business and policy leader reactor panel (Reactor Panel) to review the proposed cut scores.
5. Obtain State Board of Education approval of cut scores with public input.

The Educator Panel met to discuss and recommend “cut points” that define the new Achievement Levels.  Recommendations were based on content.

Where to set cut points is significant, as state education leaders found out last spring. The State Board of Education had to backtrack on FCAT writing scores after the passing rate plunged to 27 percent from 81 percent.

There are five achievement levels, with Level 5 being the best. At Level 3, students demonstrate a satisfactory level of success with the challenging content of the NGSSS.

Percentage of students at Achievement Level 3 or above based on the Educator Panel’s proposed cut scores:

• Grade 5 FCAT 2.0 Science–70%
• Grade 8 FACT 2.0 Science–69%
• Biology 1 EOC assessment–67%
• Geometry EOC assessment–46%

Next, a group of community and business leaders, post-secondary faculty, and superintendents – the Reactor Panel – convened to recommend their own Achievement Level cut points based on the recommendations of educators and other data.

Percentage of students at Achievement Level 3 or above based on the Reactor Panel’s proposed cut scores:

• Grade 5 FCAT 2.0 Science–52%
• Grade 8 FACT 2.0 Science–53%
• Biology 1 EOC assessment–59%
• Geometry EOC assessment–53%

DOE is holding several workshops this week and will take public input on the new standards.

Monday, October 15 – 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Jefferson High School Auditorium, 4401 West Cypress St. Tampa

Tuesday, October 16 – 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Florida Department of Education, 325 West Gaines St. Turlington Building, Room 1721, Tallahassee

Thursday, October 18 – 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Winona Webb Jordan Board Chambers, Fulton-Holland Education Center, 3300 Forest Hill Blvd. West Palm Beach

Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart will provide her cut score recommendations to the State Board of Education in mid-December. The Board will determine the final cut scores to be used for the assessments.