Schools
ISAT Scoring Will Change—Fewer Yorkville Students Likely to Meet, Exceed Standards
Arbitrary "cut" scores are changing to align ISAT scores with ACT and PARCC assessments. That means students' and schools' performance grades are likely to drop in the categories of English and math.
Don't be surprised if your son or daughter in CUSD 115 drops from "exceeds standards" to "meets standards" or from "meets" to "below" standards in the upcoming Illinois Standard Achievement Tests (ISAT).
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) last month approved new cut scores that will help align the ISAT results with those of the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) —colloquially called the ACT test—given to 11th graders, and establish a foundation for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam set to debut in the 2014-15 school year.
In 2012 CUSD 115 Superintendent Scott Wakeley said the district was making progress in meeting state standards. According to a 2012 district report five of the district’s nine schools failed to meet AYP requirements in at least one area, as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Despite that, Wakely said the district is constantly showing signs of academic growth. ACT scores for 2012 are at an all-time high. Students at Yorkville High School averaged a composite score of 21.1, up from a 19.8 composite in 2005.
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The higher expectations of the new ISAT cut scores will cause a downward shift in the number of students who meet or exceed standards. According to the 2012 ISAT results, 79 percent of all grade 3 through 8 students scored proficient in reading and 86 percent of students scored proficient in mathematics, according to an ISBE press release.
"These higher expectations will result in a significant reduction in the number of students who meet and exceed standards," said Illinois Superintendent of Schools Chris Koch in a statement.
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"Parents, board members, teachers and community members will likely be concerned to learn that students who previously were meeting standards are now characterized as needing improvement. It is important that we are able to explain that this is a result of changing standards and not a reflection of decreased performance by our students and teachers."
It's all part of the Common Core curriculum, which will include a computer-based assessment that will yield more timely results and will be given more than once during the school year.
CUSD 115 is implementing the Common Core standards for math and literacy.
In 2010, Illinois became one of 45 other states and the District of Columbia to adopt Common Core Standards for public education. District 200 high school teachers this year implemented professional learning communities (PLCs) to address students' progress and needs as the district implements the new common core standards.
When using the new performance levels to analyze the ISAT data collected in spring 2012, the percentage of students who meet and exceed standards drops to 60 percent for both reading and mathematics. The drop is a result of raising expectations, not a reflection of student or teacher performance, according to the release.
“Raising expectations is never easy, and the anticipated drop in students’ scores will be significant,” Koch said in the ISBE release. “However, we must seize this opportunity to tap into our children’s full potential and better prepare them at an earlier age to compete for jobs in a global economy. I am confident that our students will rise to the challenge and show continued progress under the new performance levels.”
