DATE: June 28, 2000
In June of this year, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) released state, district, and school results of the FY2000 Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT).
The FCAT was administered in February and March. The State’s FCAT testing program for FY2000 consisted of three components that are described in Table 1 below.
(1) a criterion-referenced test (FCAT SSS) which evaluated how students performed in reading and mathematics relative to the Sunshine State Standards,
(2) a writing test (FCAT Writing, formerly known as Florida Writes) which evaluated how students responded to a specified prompt based on state standards, and
(3) a norm-referenced test (FCAT NRT) which evaluated how students performed in reading and mathematics relative to students nationally.
|
|
Grade Level |
|||||||
|
Test |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|
FCAT SSS Reading |
N |
R |
N |
N |
N |
R |
N |
R |
|
FCAT SSS Mathematics |
N |
N |
R |
N |
N |
R |
N |
R |
|
FCAT Writing |
NA |
R |
NA |
NA |
NA |
R |
NA |
R |
|
FCAT NRT Reading |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
NR |
NR |
|
FCAT NRT Mathematics |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
Note. “N” indicates that the FDOE field-tested a
new test and will not be reporting results.
“NA” indicates that the FDOE did not administer the test. “R” indicates the FDOE is reporting test results.
NR indicates that the FDOE is not reporting results at this time because
those scores are inconsistent with scores for other grades, subjects, and
norm-referenced tests.
This year, the FDOE is reporting the FCAT results in two ways:
1. Scores for All Curriculum Groups. These scores include the scores of standard curriculum students, as well as the scores of students who were in specific Exceptional Student Education programs and/or students who participated in the Limited English Proficient Program for two years or less. In other words, these scores are based on all students who took the test. FY2000 marks the first year in which the FDOE has released FCAT summary scores for All Curriculum Groups. These scores are not used in the calculation of school grades.
2. Scores Used for School Grading Purposes. These results include the scores of standard curriculum students who were at the school in both October and in February. The results do not include the scores of students who were in specific ESE programs and/or students who were in the English for Speakers of Other Languages programs for two years or less. These results will be provided in a separate memorandum.
This current memorandum only includes the results for all students tested. The results for the State, the School District of Palm Beach County (District) and the District’s schools are displayed in the attached tables. Graphs 1 through 5 display National, State, and/or District results, when available. A brief analysis of these results is provided below:
These results were previously reported for the three grade levels tested. We have included them here for your convenience.
·
From FY1999 to FY2000,
the mean scores for the District and the State increased at each of the three
grade levels (4, 8, and 10).
· From FY1999 to FY2000, the District’s increases were about the same as the State’s increases at two grade levels (4 and 8), while the District’s increase was slightly less than the State’s increase at one grade level (10).
The analysis is based on the three grade levels tested in reading and in math.
· In FY00, the District exceeded the State at two grade levels in math (5 and 8) and one grade level in reading (8).
· From FY99 to FY00, the District increased at two grade levels in math (5 and 8) and decreased at two grade levels in reading (8 and 10).
· From FY99 to FY00, the District’s did not keep pace with the State at three grade levels in reading (4, 8, and 10) and two grade levels in math (8 and 10).
The scores summarized for FCAT NRT Reading and Mathematics tests are based on student national percentile ranks that range from 1 to 99. A national percentile rank shows how a student’s performance on a test compares to the performance of other students in the nation. For example, a national percentile rank of 55 indicates that this score is the same as or better than that 55% of the students in the nation at the time the test was normed. This is the only test in the State’s testing program that provides national values.
The summary scores reported for the state, the district, and each school are median percentile ranks. The median represents that score that is the “middle score” of all the students in that group. In other words, a median percentile rank of 49 indicates that 50% of the students scored above 49 and 50% scored below 49. A national percentile rank of 50 is the national median.
The analysis is based on the six grade levels reported in reading and the eight grade levels reported in math.
· The District equaled or exceeded the nation at eight grade levels in math (3 -10) and three grade levels in reading (4, 7, and 8). The District was below the nation at three grade levels in reading (3, 5, and 6).
· The District equaled or exceeded the State at eight grade levels in math (3-10) and five grade levels in reading (3, 5, 6, 7, and 8). The District was below the state at one grade level in reading (4).
This is the first year the State administered the FCAT-NRT. The FCAT-NRT replaced the district’s norm-referenced test, the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Fourth Edition (CTBS/4). However, the FCAT-NRT results are not directly comparable to the CTBS/4 results. This spring, the district administered the CTBS/4 to a random sample of students to provide the District the opportunity to link the FCAT-NRT to the CTBS/4. This summer we will conduct a linking study, and if we can successfully link the CTBS/4 to the FCAT-NRT, we will report trend data to enable the District to continue to monitor its performance on norm-referenced tests. We expect this report to occur sometime this fall.