By Peter Downs
Filed Wednesday, January 18 at 10:05 PM
The State Board of Education Thursday approved new standards for the expanded Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests so that more students score at the "proficient" and "advanced" levels this year.
The board unanimously approved the new test-scoring guidelines during its regular meeting in Jefferson City. Commissioner of Education D. Kent King recommended that the board adopt the new standards, which were developed last month by committees of educators and citizens. King called the new standards "both rigorous and reasonable."
This is the first time the state has revamped the standards of the MAP program since the tests became mandatory for all public schools in 1998. According to the board's press release, a combination of federal and state laws required the revisions.
The federal "No Child Left Behind" law requires all states to have grade-level tests in math and reading/communication arts no later than this year. In addition, a state law enacted in 2004 required state education officials to align the MAP exams more closely with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Under this law, Missouri’s academic standards may not exceed those used with the NAEP tests.
Before this year, the MAP program has only tested math in grades 4, 8 and 10. Reading and communication arts were tested in grades 3, 7 and 11. Beginning this spring, both reading and math will be tested in every grade, 3 through 8. Math will be tested again in grade 10; reading in grade 11.
The revised MAP testing program will have four "achievement levels" to describe student performance, instead of the five levels used with the previous MAP tests. The four MAP levels are now the same as those used with the NAEP: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced.
Last month, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education convened more than 100 educators and citizens to review the new MAP exams and recommend the "cut scores" for each level of performance in every grade and subject area. The committees set cut scores that are expected to result, initially, in about 30-35% of students statewide scoring at the proficient level in math and communication arts in each grade. Approximately 10-15% of all students in the state would be expected to score at the "advanced" level in each subject and grade. Forty-four to 46% are expected to score at the "basic" level, and 10-15% are expected to score "below basic."
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home