FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
John L. Winn
F. PHILIP HANDY,
Chairman
Commissioner of Education
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
Members
DONNA G. CALLAWAY
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ
PHOEBE RAULERSON
KATHLEEN SHANAHAN
LINDA K. TAYLOR
CONTACT INFORMATION
Name:
Samantha Love
Phone:
(850) 245-9947
E-mail:
Samantha.Love@fldoe.org
Name:
Sharon Koon
MEMORANDUM
Phone:
(850) 245-0513
E-mail:
Sharon.Koon@fldoe.org
TO:
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District School Superintendents
Name:
Kevin Smith
FROM:
Cheri Pierson Yecke, Ph.D.
Phone:
(850) 245-5103
Chancellor
E-mail:
Kevin.Smith@fldoe.org
K-12
Public
Schools
Hanna Skandera
Deputy Commissioner
Accountability, Research, and Measurement
DATE:
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October 30, 2006
SUBJECT:
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Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test® (FCAT) Concordant Scores for
Meeting High School Graduation Requirements
In support of the Florida Department of Education’s commitment to the Strategic Imperative to
“Set, Align, and Apply Academic Curricular and Testing Standards,” this memorandum is to
inform school districts of the current policy related to the use of concordant scores for the FCAT
in meeting high school graduation requirements. This information is in response to the
amendments to Section 1008.22(9), Florida Statutes (F.S.), approved by the 2006 Legislature,
that allow for the use of concordant scores without limiting the implementation to a specific
school year. In addition to outlining the current policy, we also are providing information on the
anticipated changes to the current policy expected to be released in the upcoming months.
Section 1008.22(9), F.S., now authorizes the Commissioner of Education to adopt concordant
scores for FCAT scores when a concordance is supported by an alignment of the content of the
assessments as well as a determination of a strong statistical relationship within the data sets.
In addition, the section was amended to specify each time that test content or scoring
procedures are changed for the FCAT or one of the identified tests, new concordant scores
must be determined.
HANNA SKANDERA
CHERI PIERSON YECKE, PH.D.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER
CHANCELLOR
ACCOUNTABILITY, RESEARCH, AND MEASUREMENT
K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 814 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0437 • www.fldoe.org
District School Superintendents
October 30, 2006
Page 2
The amended statute provides the legislative authority to continue the use of the current
concordant scores adopted by the State Board of Education, shown in the table below. These
concordant scores were determined in 2003 through a study involving matched 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. Although not perfectly aligned, the alignment documents for the SAT
and ACT indicated that these tests covered 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 concordant scores shown in Table 1 as meeting the assessment
graduation requirement for those eligible students meeting the statutory guidelines identified in
S. 1008.22(9)(b), F.S.
Table 1
Current Concordant Scores
(as of October 2006)
Reading
Mathematics
FCAT
1926
FCAT
1889
SAT
410
SAT
370
ACT
15
ACT
15
As you know, the College Board updated the SAT with changes that require the Department
to conduct another concordance study to determine the content alignment and the statistical
relationship between the FCAT and the new SAT. The Department now has a sufficient
number of students who have taken both the FCAT and the new assessment to study score
relationships between the assessments.
The scores listed in Table 1 are valid for both the old and new SAT (first administered in
March 2005) until the Department completes its study of the new SAT.
Once the
Department has completed the concordance study of the new SAT, it may be found that the
score relationships are different and the concordant scores may need to change. The
Department anticipates that students participating in the SAT after new concordant scores are
approved will be held accountable for achieving the new concordant scores, following a brief
transition period during which both the old and the new concordant scores will be accepted.
For example, if new SAT concordant scores are approved by January 1, 2007, students would
be able to use either the current (see Table 1) or new concordant scores until July 1, 2007, for
the purpose of satisfying the assessment graduation requirement. After July 1, 2007, all
students taking the new SAT would be held accountable for achieving the new concordant
scores.
Policies Related to the Use of Concordant Scores
Decisions regarding the use of concordant scores in meeting graduation requirements and
student progression requirements involve both state and local policies. To facilitate a common
understanding of how these policies work together, please note the following:
District School Superintendents
October 30, 2006
Page 3
Graduation Requirements
1)
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Pursuant to S. 1008.22(9)(b), F.S. (Concordant Scores for the FCAT), in order to use a
concordant subject area score to satisfy the assessment requirement for a standard high
school diploma, a student must take each subject area of the Grade 10 FCAT a total of
three times without earning a passing score. The requirements shall not apply to a new
student who enters the Florida public school system in Grade 12, who may either achieve a
passing score on the FCAT or use an approved subject area concordant score to fulfill the
graduation requirement. Unless otherwise stated in your school district’s Student
Progression Plan, a new student entering the Florida public school system in Grade 12 is
not
required
to take the Grade 10 FCAT if he or she is able to document the approved
concordant scores.
2)
Students who are eligible to use a concordant score, as described above, and have attained
the current ACT or SAT scores concordant with the FCAT passing scores shown in Table 1,
shall satisfy the assessment requirement for a standard high school diploma as provided by
Florida law [S. 1003.43(5)(a) (General requirements for high school graduation.--) and
S. 1003.429(6)(a) (Accelerated high school graduation options.--), F.S.].
3)
Once a student has met the assessment graduation requirement for a standard high school
diploma with a concordant score (and taken and failed the Grade 10 FCAT a total of three
times, if applicable), Florida’s school code does not require the student to continue retaking
the Grade 10 FCAT for the purpose of high school graduation. However, S. 1003.43, F.S.,
requires district school boards to establish standards for graduation, and these standards
must include the completion of all other applicable requirements prescribed in the district’s
Student Progression Plan pursuant to s. 1008.25. Therefore, the decision to require a
student to continue retaking the FCAT beyond meeting the statewide graduation
requirement must be based on the district’s student progression policies included in the
approved Student Progression Plan.
Student Progression in Reading
1)
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Each school district in Florida must address how all students scoring at Levels 1 and 2 on
FCAT Reading will receive reading intervention through their District K-12 Comprehensive
Reading Plan. Currently, reading courses must be designed and offered pursuant to the K
12 Comprehensive Reading Plan as required by s.1011.62(9), F.S., for all high school
students, including students in Grades 11 and 12 who are still in need of intervention.
2)
Currently, Florida’s school code does not require the use of concordant scores for purposes
other than high school graduation. The use of concordant scores to exempt students from
required intervention would require subsequent approval by the State Board of Education.
At this point in time, it is the Department’s position that students scoring at Levels 1 and 2
on FCAT Reading must continue to receive intervention irrespective of graduation
requirements.
District School Superintendents
October 30, 2006
Page 4
Student Progression in Mathematics
1)
S. 1008.25, F.S., requires each student who scores below Level 3 in mathematics to be
provided with additional diagnostic assessments to determine the appropriate strategies for
intervention and instruction. As discussed above, Florida’s school code does not require the
use of concordant scores for purposes other than high school graduation. Therefore,
documentation of a concordant score may be used as additional information in the
development of mathematics intervention plans, but may not exempt a student from the
required intervention strategies stated in your district’s Student Progression Plan.
In summary, Florida’s school code provides for the specific use of concordant scores for
meeting the assessment graduation requirement, under certain conditions. While the
concordant scores provide additional information related to student performance, they do not
exempt students from the requirements of the K-12 District Comprehensive Reading Plan or the
specific student progression requirements stated in your district’s approved Student Progression
plan. The primary distinction is that concordant scores are able to provide an external measure
of whether or not a student has met minimal expectations in reading and mathematics for high
school graduation but are not able to serve as a measure of the student’s success on Florida’s
Sunshine State Standards.
Please feel free to contact Samantha Love, Bureau of School Improvement,
Samantha.Love@fldoe.org, with questions related to student progression policies, Kevin Smith,
Just Read, Florida!, Kevin.Smith@fldoe.org, with questions related to reading plans, and Sharon
Koon, Assessment and School Performance, Sharon.Koon@fldoe.org, with your questions
related to the Grade 10 FCAT.
HS:sk
cc:
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Assistant Superintendents for Instruction
High School Principals
Guidance Supervisors
Student Assessment Coordinators
Student Services Directors
