Members of the Kansas State Board of Education are set to vote on new state assessment scale and cut scores during their monthly meeting, Aug. 12-13, in Topeka.  

These cut scores are for the Kansas Assessment Program (KAP) tests administered to students this past spring in grades 3–8 and 10th for English language arts, math and science. 

According to the KAP, a scale score is “a mathematical conversion of the total number of points a student earned on an assessment into a score along a predefined scale, which allows for consistent reporting of assessment results across years for any specific grade and subject area.” In addition, a cut score is what divides the performance levels on the scale. Cut scores are generally different for each grade and subject. 

During their May meeting, board members approved new performance level descriptors (PLDs) for the four levels of achievement on the state assessments. The previous PLDS, developed in 2015, emphasized a student’s college and career readiness. A variety of Kansas educators revised the descriptors this year to more clearly reflect a student’s ability to demonstrate their skills and knowledge of grade level content.    

In June, the new PLDs also provided more than 140 Kansas educators a foundation for setting the new cut scores that identify the level of proficiency students achieve on the assessments.   

Board members will also hear a presentation on the Kansas Assessment Program, which will include information about timelines for KAP contracts and the differences and interactions between academic standards, assessment standards, the role of the State Board, and the timelines for the most recent reviews, revisions, and adoptions of each.   

Also during their August meeting, board members are expected to vote on the graduation requirements for the second iteration of the Kansas Education System Accreditation, known as KESA 2.0.  

As part of KESA 2.0, the graduation rate will be calculated by taking the total number of graduates from the five most recent graduating classes and dividing by the total number of students in the four-year cohort in each of those classes. 

According to information provided by the KSDE accreditation and design team, the state KESA graduation rate has recently been in the 88-89% range. The state graduation rate goal is 95%. 

Some other items on the State Board’s August agenda include: 

• Presentations on the Seal of Literacy, including teacher training and testing options.  
• An update on federal funding. 
• Information on a career-connected learning model proposed by the Kansas Build Forward Partnership to expand construction trades in western and rural areas of the state. 
• Vote on the State Board’s goals. 
• Vote on out-of-state contracts for Missouri students for the Kansas School for the Deaf and the Kansas State School for the Blind. 

Click here for the August meeting’s full agenda and supporting materials. Access the livestream here. 

Board members will meet at 4 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 11, in the first-floor board room of the Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson, for a policy meeting. This meeting is open to the public but will not be livestreamed or recorded.