FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
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John L. Winn
Commissioner of Education
F. PHILIP HANDY,
Chairman
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
Members
DONNA G. CALLAWAY
JULIA L. JOHNSON
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ
PHOEBE RAULERSON
LINDA K. TAYLOR
CONTACT PERSONS
Name:
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Mary Jo Butler
Cornelia
Orr
Phone:
(850) 245-0479
(850) 245-0513
Suncom:
205-0479
205-0513
Email:
maryjo.butler@fldoe.org
K12:
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2005-125
MEMORANDUM
TO:
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District School Superintendents
FROM:
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Jeanine Blomberg
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Hanna Skandera
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DATE:
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September 8, 2005
SUBJECT:
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ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT OPTIONS FOR MEETING THE GRADE 10 FCAT
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GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
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Department staff notified school districts via K12 Memo #2005-56, dated May 18, 2005, regarding
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the continued opportunity for students to use concordant scores on alternative assessments (ACT
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and SAT) to meet the graduation requirement in lieu of earning a passing score on the Grade 10
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Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This memo also provided the concordant scores
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for 2004-2005.
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Section 1008.301, Florida Statutes (FCAT equivalency; concordance study), authorizes the State
Board of Education to conduct a concordance study to determine if crosswalk scores can be
determined to be equivalent to those required on the FCAT. In cases in which such equivalencies
can be determined, the State Board is authorized to adopt those scores as meeting the graduation
assessment requirement in lieu of the FCAT passing score. Each time the score is changed, new
equivalencies must be determined. This provision shall take effect for students who are eligible to
graduate in the 2003-2004 school year and thereafter.
JEANINE BLOMBERG
CHIEF OF STAFF
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 1514 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-9663 • www.fldoe.org
District School Superintendents
September 8, 2005
Page Two
To meet this requirement, the Department of Education conducted concordance studies to
determine the score relationship between the FCAT and several national tests in 2003. This study
involved matching scores for over 70,000 students who had taken both the FCAT and the SAT and
over 47,000 students who had taken both the FCAT and the ACT. The correlations between the
FCAT and the other tests were found to be positive and within the range of correlations between the
SAT and the ACT. Although not perfectly aligned, the alignment documents for the SAT and ACT
indicate that these tests cover a majority of the Sunshine State Standards content assessed by the
FCAT. Therefore, based on the 2003 concordance study, the State Board of Education adopted the
concordance scores as meeting the assessment requirement in lieu of the FCAT passing scores for
high school graduation.
In March 2005, College Board implemented several changes to the SAT. These changes require
the Department to conduct another concordance study to determine if crosswalk scores can be
determined to be equivalent to the new assessments. This study will require that a sufficient number
of students have taken both the FCAT and the new assessment to support positive correlations.
Please note that the current concordance scores adopted by the State Board and identified in the
May K12 Memo are valid until the Department’s subsequent study can be completed. Also, note
that pursuant to section 1008.22(9)(b), Florida Statutes (Student assessment program for public
schools), a student is required to take the Grade 10 FCAT a total of three times without earning a
passing score in order to use the scores on an alternative assessment. This requirement shall not
apply to a student who transfers into a Florida public school in the twelfth grade.
Therefore, unless the Florida Legislature or State Board of Education takes action amending these
statutes and policies, twelfth grade students scheduled to graduate in the 2005-2006 school year are
afforded the opportunity to use the ACT or SAT concordant scores applicable for the 2004-2005
graduates to satisfy the assessment requirement for a standard high school diploma. However,
students who have not earned passing scores on the Grade 10 FCAT should be advised to continue
to retake the FCAT through their scheduled graduation date prior to applying the use of the
alternative assessments.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Mary Jo Butler or Samantha
Love in K-12 Student Achievement at samantha.love@fldoe.org, Kris Ellington in Assessment and
School Performance at kris.ellington@fldoe.org, or Martha Miller in Evaluation and Reporting at
martha.miller@fldoe.org.
Thank you for your commitment to providing options to ensure that all high school students are
prepared to successfully enter postsecondary education or the world of work.
JB:HS:mjbo
cc:
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Assistant Superintendents
for Curriculum and Instruction
District Coordinators of Assessment
Guidance Supervisors
Student Services Directors
