Background on Reporting Iowa Proficiency

The following is from the University of Iowa and Iowa Testing Programs on the reporting of student proficiency:

Use of the Iowa Standard Score Scale as the metric for proficiency will allow Iowa schools to continue to administer the Iowa Assessments to meet scheduling preferences and to retain historical trend data (fall, midyear or spring).

Background

Before 2002, Iowa Testing Programs offered the ITBS and ITED to school districts as part of a voluntary testing program.

Approximately 98% of the school districts participated in this voluntary program. The Iowa school districts used the assessments to inform instruction, monitor trends, report progress to parents and evaluate programs.

During this time school districts selected the time of year to administer the assessments that best met their needs (fall, midyear or spring).

Due to the extensive historical trend data, the state of Iowa’s NCLB workbook application requested continued flexibility of administration dates (fall, midyear or spring). The federal government approved this application in 2002.

In 2003 the state of Iowa selected the National Percentile Rank (NPR) metric to report cut-scores to determine students who are not proficient, proficient and advanced. This metric allowed for a fixed cut-score while retaining flexibility in administration dates (fall, midyear or spring). The state adopted NPRs of 1 to 40 as not proficient, 41 to 89 as proficient, and 90 and above as proficient but also advanced. These NPRs were based on a national sample of students that completed Forms A and B of the Iowa Assessments in the year 2000.

Forms A and B were used in the state of Iowa between 2002 and 2011. Iowa Testing Programs now has  developed the new Iowa Assessments to measure the Iowa Core. New assessments were introduced in the state in the fall of 2011.

Equivalent Measures of Proficiency for the new Iowa Assessments

Use of the Iowa Standard Score Scale as the metric for proficiency will allow Iowa schools to continue to administer the Iowa Assessments to meet scheduling preferences and to retain historical trend data (fall, midyear or spring).

The new Iowa Assessments were linked to the ITBS and ITED (Forms A and B) through a national study. The equivalent of the 41st percentile from the 2000 norms was identified on the Iowa Assessments’ standard score scale.

Therefore, the expectation for proficiency remains the same from Forms A and B of the ITBS/ITED to the new Iowa Assessments.

The equivalent of the 41st percentile from the 2000 norms maps to different places on the standard score scale (i.e., some tests were more difficult for students in 2010 than they were in 2000 and vice versa). This means a fixed cut-score in the NPR metric is no longer feasible. Cut-scores for not proficient, proficient and advanced will be reported in Standard Score metric.

The Standard Score metric will allow for establishing cut-scores at the equivalent point to the 41st NPR from the year 2000.

More importantly, the Standard Score metric will allow teachers and parents to monitor growth across years and make connections among growth, proficiency and college readiness.